Love at First Lie
by Seaheeler
Summary: Sometimes lies aren't lies, they're love.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone,

I'm back already! Did you miss me? Haha

Originally it was a toss up between publishing this one or "Fine", I didn't have ending for either of them and I thought that posting one of them would make me think harder haha, it didn't, I was still lost and I haven't learned my lesson with this one either so we'll see how long this on takes!

But anyway, can I just say you guys are amazing, like 140 reviews for "Fine"! You guys sure do know how to make a gal feel special. I've tried to reply to all of you, but some of you I can't cos you're guests, please join!

So, I'm not going to give much background into this, you will probs have questions from the get go but I may have some flashback scenes in upcoming chapters to attempt to explain. I all know how much you like to be confused by my past and present scenes lol!

Anyway, are you ready for the ride?

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 1.

"Mummy?"

Kate's eyes darted up to the rear view mirror focusing on her daughter who's face was firmly pressed against the window watching the cars go by.

"Mmm?"

"When's Daddy gonna be home?"

"Tonight, sweetie..."

The little girl bounced up and down in her seat clapping her hands.

"Yay!"

Kate smiled as she glanced back and forth from her to the road.

"I bet he's going to be excited to see you..."

She nodded enthusiastically.

"I am! I miss him lots..."

"I know, hopefully he'll be home for a week this time, we can do lots of things together, I promise!"

Later that evening Kate stood in the kitchen preparing dinner, Lia run up to her and pulled on her pant leg.

"How long now?"

At that moment the front door swung open, Lia squealed and ran towards the man entering.

"Daddy, you're home!"

Dylan smiled as she ran into his embrace, he swung her up on to his hip and gave her a kiss.

"Lia?! How's my little princess?"

She placed her hand on her hip and scrunched up her face.

"Daddy! I'm not a princess, remember!"

He laughed and tickled her belly causing her frown to disappear.

"Oh, that's right."

He gave her a salute as he put her down on the floor, she smiled and saluted back.

"Captain Lia, I am at your service!"

She giggled and ran in to her room, Dylan walked up behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hello, beautiful..."

She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I missed you!"

He kissed her on the forehead.

"Missed you more..."

He sat at the kitchen bench and grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and took a big bite.

"So, I've gotta talk to you about something..."

Kate turned to face him momentarily then turned back to the stove and continued to stir dinner.

"Sounds serious..."

"Well yeah, umm Commander White called today..."

"White? Never heard of him?"

"Ah, he's a she, and she has requested my services, well, our services, in Cairns."

"What?!"

Kate spun round forgetting she was holding the spoon and flung spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen.

Dylan laughed and got up and took the spoon from her hand.

"Maybe we put the weapon down..."

Kate shook her head at herself and grabbed the paper towel and started to wipe the bench, Dylan grabbed another piece and assisted her.

"Yeah, apparently we're a good package, with my mission background and your knowledge of procedures and policy we make a great team, they were her words. She would like to know if we'd be interested in relocating..."

Kate paused for a minute and glanced over to him.

"Dylan, we've created a life here..."

He took the dirty paper towel from her hand and placed it in the bin.

"I know, but Cairns, sun, warm, weekends at Cable Beach! Aren't you sick of being cold?"

She scoffed and picked up the spoon and stirred the bubbling sauce.

"How long have we got to decide?"

"Till the end of my shore leave, if we go I'll have one more rotation and then we'll be off... but, there's a chance that you would have to go back out there..."

Kate hesitated, she did miss the sea, but she had become accustomed to being on shore, especially with Lia.

"This is a lot!"

Dylan nodded and stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Maybe a honey moon on Hamilton Island?"

She rolled her eyes at his growing grin and held the spoon up to his mouth.

"Is that you trying to propose again?"

His eyes focused on the spoon.

"Is that you threatening to sauce me if it is?"

She shook her head placed the spoon back in the pot, he spun her round to face him.

"I wouldn't have to try if you just said yes..."

She exhaled loudly, he knew where she stood on this subject.

"Dylan, it's just, it feels silly, we have a child. Why do we need to..."

He rolled his eyes and playfully gripped her by the shoulders.

"I know, it's just a piece of paper..."

He pulled her in for a hug and kissed her head, he headed upstairs to get changed. Lia came running out of her room with multiple pieces of paper.

"Where's Daddy?"

"He's just getting changed..."

She picked up her little girl and gave her a kiss.

"Now, more importantly, do you want a bath or a shower tonight?"

Lia's eyes lit up.

"Bath, please!"

Kate groaned, it was always a bath, it would be fine if it didn't take double the time to get her out.

"Daddy should have never bought you those boats!"

"But they're the best..."

Kate sighed and carried her into the bathroom.

"They sure are..."

The next morning Kate stood on their balcony looking out into the bay, she held her cup of coffee in the palm of her hands trying to warm her fingers. Dylan walked out on to the balcony and laughed.

"You know if we were in Cairns it'd be so warm we could this naked!"

Kate scoffed at the thought and rolled her eyes, she gave him a friendly nudge with her hip as he stood next to her.

"We'd still have neighbours you know, so why do you want to leave this place?"

"I dunno, a new adventure for us, don't you want to impart as much of Kate McGregor on the Navy world as possible?"

She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"You know me too well..."

"Did I mention the pay rise and they'll come pack all our stuff and move it too, and I'll make sure they get us a house with a view, and no neighbours..."

He placed her cup of coffee down and kissed her passionately, Lia's loud groan interrupted them.

"Ewwww..."

Kate laughed and knelt down and picked her up.

"So, we need to talk to you about something..."

2 months later

Kate stood out on the balcony of their new home in Cairns, Dylan had done as promised, negotiated a beautiful house looking or over the water, but unfortunately for him they had neighbours. Dylan walked out on to the balcony in his whites.

"Oh, I didn't think I'd be nervous..."

Kate giggled as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, I know..."

"I think cos they have an expectation if us..."

Kate turned to face him and straightened his collar.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous..."

"Ah, what about when you told me you were pregnant?"

She laughed.

"No, that was me! C'mon, let's show these guys how we do things!"

Kate, Dylan and Lia walked up the stairs of NAVCOM, Dylan could see that Kate was anxious and he squeezed her hand trying to reassure her. Lia bolted in front of them, zooming past officers and into the building. Dylan ran after and scooped her up just as she got to the security screening. He laughed nervously seeing the unimpressed look on the security guard's face.

"Ah, sorry, we have an appointment to see Commander White, Petty Officer Dylan Mulholland and Lieutenant Kate McGregor."

The guard checked the list and gave them a nod. Dylan put Lia back on the ground and knelt next to her.

"You need to be on your best behaviour, okay? We're going to meet our new Boss."

She nodded and put on her best convincing smile.

"I promise Daddy..."

Kate took her hand and lead her into the main office, she let out a shriek of excitement making everyone in the office turn and stare at them. Kate's cheeks turned bright red, she immediately picked her up and whispered in her ear.

"What was that for?"

Lia's eyes darted around the office.

"It's massive! Heaps bigger than the one at home!"

They heard a laugh behind them and turned to see Maxine White, she smiled and shook their hands.

"Dylan, Kate, good to meet you..."

She turned her attention to Lia.

"And who do we have here?"

Lia formed her little hand into a salute and smiled.

"Captain Cordelia Mulholland..."

They all let out a giggle, Maxine saluted her back.

"Well, Captain, you must tell me your secret to looking so young and having such a high ranking."

She giggled and leaned in.

"It's a secret!"

Maxine ushered them into her office, she took out some pencils and paper and pulled Lia up a chair against the desk.

"Do you enjoy colouring?"

She nodded excitedly and hopped up on to the chair and grabbed the pencils. Kate smiled at the gesture, she already felt more at ease seeing Maxine comfortable having children in the office.

"So, Cordelia is an unusual name..."

Before either of them could answer Lia looked up and interrupted.

"It means daughter of the sea..."

She put her head back down and concentrated on her colouring.

"How fitting then..."

She nodded turning her attention back to the colouring book.

"Mummy and Daddy love the sea..."

Dylan laughed and gave Kate a nudge.

"Yeah, if it was up to Kate her name probably would have been Ariel..."

Kate laughed and playfully hit him on the arm, Maxine cleared her throat.

"So, umm, there's been a bit of change in plans..."

Kate held her breath for a second, she didn't like surprises.

"Change?"

Maxine nodded trying to think of a way to break the news.

"So, Dylan, you'll be going out on the Hammersley… and you will be too, Kate."

Kate froze, she didn't know what to say, she didn't want to refuse, this was the Navy and went where she was told, but she was sent here under different circumstances.

"Ah, I thought that was against the rules, and did the Brass forget that we have a daughter?"

Kate broke eye contact realising her tone, and that she was directing it to her new Boss.

"Ah, sorry, Ma'am, I guess it's just a surprise."

Maxine nodded agreeing with Kate's concerned tone.

"Well, to put it bluntly were desperate, no, that sounds wrong. We actually want you both out there anyway, but we know that one of you requested a shore posting. Unfortunately, we've had a spate of bad luck recently and a few of the crew from multiple ships are out of action. We thought about sending you out on separate ships but we knew that wouldn't be good for home life, plus all crews are down right now so mixing around the crews didn't seem like a good idea, so, this is what the powers that be came up with. We can task the Hammersley to stay close as possible, hopefully they'll just be standard day trips... umm, but otherwise we have hired a nanny for you..."

Kate sighed, she knew that they were in a tough position and it sounded like Maxine had done all she could but she needed to speak her mind.

"Ma'am, I don't want to sound ungrateful but I don't know how comfortable I feel with a stranger looking after my child.

Maxine could sympathise, she had a child herself.

"Well, umm, I can do it if that makes you feel more comfortable..."

It didn't, she was still a stranger, but she didn't really have a choice. Maxine could see that Kate was still unhappy with the decision. Lia jumped down from her chair and climbed on to her lap.

"I'll be fine Mum!"

"Look Kate, she'll be as school most of the day anyway, and I have a son, he's 14. It's not like I don't have any experience in raising a child in the Navy..."

Kate laughed nervously.

"Are you going to tell the crew we're together?"

"Ah, no so that's the other thing we need you two keep it professional. I know you can, by all reports from your other superiors you guys are great at separating work from home."

Kate glanced over to Dutchy with an uneasy look on her face, he reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Hey, we can do this. You love bossing me around!"

Maxine could help but laugh.

"I've arranged a meet and greet over at the pub tonight, unfortunately the CO can't attend, he'll be flying back from a conference tomorrow before you sail the day after."

"We sail in 2 days?!"

"Oh yeah, did I leave that part out? Look hopefully this is for a month, tops!"

Lia pulled on Maxine's arm and smiled.

"Do you like Disney?"

"Well, as it so happens, I have a very large collection… Why don't you drop Lia over before you go to the pub and we'll go from there..."

Later that evening Dylan and Kate walked to the local pub to meet the crew. They were both tense, they knew that the Navy had ignored some protocols for them to be on the ship and they had no idea what the crew would be like.

Their eyes scanned the room, in the corner were a group that you could only assume were sailors. Kate and Dylan made sure they stood a good distance apart to warn of any assumptions.

One of the sailor's split of from the group and approached them.

"Dutchy?"

Dylan didn't know whether to nod, he looked a little confused.

"Ah, it's Dylan..."

He smirked and shook Dylan's hand.

"I'm Charge, and nah, its gotta be Dutchy! You're last name's Mulholland right?"

Dutchy nodded.

"Yeah, but..."

Before he could answer Charge dragged him over to the table, Kate followed behind intrigued if they would notice her. Dylan looked back at her and grabbed her hand and pulled her along, they suddenly realised they were touching, he immediately dropped her hand. Charge cleared his throat to announce Dutchy's arrival to the other crew members.

"Guys, our new Buffer is here..."

Kate cleared her throat announcing herself, Charge turned and peered behind Dutchy seeing where the noise was coming from.

"Oh sorry, you must be Dutchy's girl, huh?"

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a steel-eyed look.

"Ah no, I'm Lieutenant McGregor..."

They stopped and stared back at her wondering if it was a joke, Dylan could see their reaction isn't what Kate was expecting.

"Ah yeah, Lieutenant McGregor, will be your new XO..."

Charge took a sip of his beer and glanced back and forth from them.

"So, you guys know each other?"

Dylan nodded and Kate shook her head, they froze looking at each other. Kate cleared her throat taking charge.

"Ah, well, a little, Dylan, I mean PO Mulholland and I were posted together in Adelaide for a while, but we didn't really work together that much."

The crew didn't really understand her explanation, Adelaide wasn't that big. Charge ignored the awkwardness and proceeded to introduce everyone.

"Okay, So we have RO, Robert Dixon, Swain, Chris Blake, ET, Leo Kosov-Meyer, Chefo, Jessica Bird."

Charge laughed as he watched their eyes glaze over.

"Ah, I suppose it'll take some time, but anyway... Guava Mojo!?"

Kate frowned and looked over to Dylan unsure if that was code for something.

"What is that?"

A large grin came over Charge's face.

"Ah, Ma'am, you have not lived till you've had a Guava Mojo!"

2Dads placed one in both of their hands and winked at them.

"It's Charges specialty!"

Kate glanced over to Dutchy with an uneasy look on her face and handed him the glass.

"Ah, might just stick to the Sav Blanc tonight…"

Dutchy shrugged and took a sip of the cocktail and nodded.

"That's pretty good!"

They sat and joined the crew, for most of the night Kate sat there in silence, she was afraid that she would say something that would give away their secret, Dylan, on the other hand, was full of anecdotes and stories.

It was getting late and Dylan and Kate had made separate excuses to leave. 2Dads and Charge exited the pub as Kate and Dylan were getting into a cab. 2Dads nudged Charge in the ribs and pointed towards them.

"They don't know each other, hey?"

Charge rolled his eyes and walked in the opposite direction.

"2Dads, don't start, they're probably staying at the same hotel..."

2Dads nodded in agreement and laughed.

"Yeah, can you imagine those two anyway, they're complete opposites!"

Back at Dylan's and Kate's house, Dylan took out his keys and opened the door.

"Well, I think that went okay?"

Kate barged in and chucked her bag onto the kitchen counter.

"Are you joking? We need to get our stories straight!"

Dylan could see Kate was getting working up, he let out an all knowing laugh, typical Kate, she hated not being prepared or in control. He wrapped his arms around her and ran his hand over her cheek.

"It'll be fine!"

He kissed her gently on the lips and gave her a slight squeeze, Kate exhaled and smiled, he could always calm her.

"Plus, we can always pretend we hate each other?!"

She let out a scoff and shook her head.

"I just don't know how we're supposed to explain this to Lia, she's not going to be able to understand this. I don't think if fair to expect her to lie too."

"Maybe we'll just have to tell them..."

"Dylan, we can't do that?"

"Why not? I mean not straight away but they seem like a fairly tight knit group, like they'd look out for one another... look let's give it a week and we'll go from there..."

The next day 2Dads and Charge knocked on Dutchy's door. Dutchy swung open the door still half asleep.

"Dutchy!"

His eyes widened, how did they know where he lived? Shit, Kate and Lia! He made sure to announce their presence so Kate would get the hint to stay upstairs.

"Oh, hi guys?! What are you doing here? How did you know where I live?"

Kate stood on top of the landing holding Lia. She wriggled out of Kate's embrace and ran down the stairs.

"Daddy! Who's at the door?!"

2Dads and Charge stared at the little girl standing in front of them like she was a ghost. They both glanced back at Dutchy, Dutchy smiled nervously and bent down and picked her up.

"Ah guys, this is my daughter Cordelia, sweetie, this is 2Dads and Charge, Daddy's new work friends!"

She waived and smiled sweetly.

"Hi!"

2Dads and Charge were speechless, it was the last thing they were expecting.

"Ah, sorry guys I gotta get her ready, something I can help you with?"

Charge snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, we were just wanting to see if you wanted to check out the ship?"

"Oh yeah, you want me to call the X?"

They looked at each other wondering why he would suggest to invite her.

"Ah, we were just thinking making it the plebs, you know, no one judging us..."

Kate was the top of the stairs, Dutchy glanced up half expecting Kate to storm down the stairs and give them a serve.

"Ah yeah okay, meet you there in an hour?"

They nodded and Dylan closed the door, 2Dads and Charge turned and walked to the car. 2Dads shook his head still not believe what he had seen.

"He has a kid?"

"I think we're gonna have to keep our eye on this one, he's full of surprises!"

End of Chapter 1.

A note for GuestUK

I think the last guest review on "Fine" was from you, wasn't sure but it sounded like you. I just wanna say thanks for your kind words. Sometimes I think the concept of fanfic is silly, and I don't mean to insult anyone's stories, by that I mean I think its silly cos I get so worked up about a fictional story line or character. I have to remind myself that it's not real but on the other hand sometimes the themes in my stories are serious and I guess I don't realise how serious because I'm writing them about fictional characters, but when people point out that they recogise a theme or undertone of a story and they appreciate the way I have handled it it makes me feel super satisfied as a writer, like, on some level I do feel that writing these fics can be therapeutic and kind of like and outlet. But anyway, that was way too deep for the drama that I usually write! But the point is, thank you and please join so I can PM you!


	2. Chapter 2

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 2.

An hour later Dylan strolled down the docks, he stopped and the bottom of the gangway and admired the ship. 2Dads and Charge appeared on the deck and waved enthusiastically, he looked up and waved back and smiled, he liked these guys, they seemed like good people. They raced down the gangway to greet him and stood either side of him and ushered him on to the ship. They went below and walked around pointing out various areas.

"Guys, I have been at sea for like, 7 years, I'm familiar with the equipment."

Charge scoffed and patted him on the back.

"The Hammersley is special mate! Once you're here you'll never want to leave!"

Dylan looked around trying to find anything different about the ship.

"What's so special about it?

They both laughed and spoke in unison.

"Us, of course!

2Dads patted Dutchy on the shoulder trying to act casual.

"So, give us the run down on the X, is she a tough one?"

"So that's why you got me down here?"

2Dads shrugged innocently.

"Hey, we just want to know what we're up against..."

Dylan frowned at his choice of words, he was worried that they had already come to conclusions about her from the other night.

"Why is it you guys against her? I haven't served with her on a ship but..."

"Oh but you have some pull with her right?"

Dylan couldn't help but laugh, if only they knew.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

2Dads glanced at Charge knowing that he wouldn't approve of his next sentence.

"So umm, we saw you getting to a cab with her last night."

Charges eyes widened and he kicked 2Dads on the ankle.

"Ah, ignore him, Dutchy..."

Dylan smiled trying to reassure them and put his hands on their shoulders.

"Just give her a chance, from what I've seen and heard she's a great officer."

Dutchy felt bad for lying to them but at this stage it was better for everyone, just in case these guys weren't as great as he first thought. They walked into the officers mess and sat down.

"So why all the questions, what was you old XO like?"

2Dads picked up the deck of cards and started to shuffle them.

"You play poker?"

Dylan scoffed knowing that they were avoiding the question.

"C'mon guys…"

Charge got up and placed the room.

"Ah, look, you'd know that being on a ship that we're like a family."

Dylan frowned, he didn't know, he'd only been on frigates with hundreds of others.

"Ah, I've not worked on a patrol boat before…"

Charge sat back down next to him.

"Look, our last XO came from frigate too, and he didn't understand the complexity of it. There's only 23 of us on this tub, we have each others backs, especially the boss'."

Dylan raised an eyebrow, Charge's tone was a little strange.

"So, your last XO disagreed with your CO, a lot?"

Charge smiled and let out a laugh trying to think of a way to put it delicately.

"Ah, yeah, look, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about our CO, he's a good man, fair and has our backs, but sometimes well, he's been described as a bit of a cowboy."

Dylan couldn't help but laugh, Kate was going to hate that.

"Right, well..."

2Dads tapped him on the arm.

"So, you have a daughter, what about a woman?"

Charge moved closer and raised his eyebrows suggestively, Dylan shifted uncomfortably in his seat and broke eye contact. .

"Ah, yeah, I have one of those too..."

"Oh, what's her name?"

He hesitated trying to think of a name, any name that wasn't Kate.

"Ah, Katherine... "

He winced, it was too close to the truth.

"She's great, she totally gets the Navy life, she's the best mother and man, I don't know what I'd do without her..."

2Dads jokingly pretended to vomit.

"Ugh, Okay, gross..."

"What's gross?"

They jumped hearing the voice coming from the door way, Kate stood there with her arms folded across her chest.

They all stood from the bench, Dutchy shoved past Charge and walked over to her.

"Oh, X, hi... we were just checking out the shop before we sail tomorrow..."

She raised her eyebrow, he could see she was a little annoyed.

"Yeah, thanks for the invite..."

He reached out to touch her arm but realised what he was doing and pulled his hand back.

"Ah, we didn't think you'd wanna hear all the boring guy talk..."

Kate rolled her eyes and walked off, the guys were surprised that she took Dylan's explanation so well. 2Dads chased after her wanting to make a good first impression.

"Ah, Ma'am, not sure if you remember, I'm 2Dads, the ET, now that you're here we can give you the grand tour..."

2Dads smiled and gestured for her lead the way.

"Ladies first..."

She scoffed.

"Shouldn't that be you then?"

She walked past them straight faced and up to the bridge, 2Dads shot a worried look at Dylan and Charge and the 3 of them followed not knowing what to say.

Kate stood on the bridge and admired the equipment, she hadn't been out at sea for a while and things had certainly been upgraded. She felt Dylan's presence next to her, a small smile crossed her lips, she was anxious about being back out there, but she felt safe knowing that Dylan would be her Buffer. She placed herself in the captains chair and listened to the boys chat behind her.

"So, how old's your daughter?"

Dylan tried to catch Kate's eye but her focus was on the water.

"Ah, she's 6... umm, anyway, I might head off guys, she is with a sitter and we have to get her prepared for school."

Dutchy started to walk off, Charge called out after him.

"We gotta meet your Mrs soon!"

He barley turned while walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, soon..."

Kate headed for the stairs too, 2Dads called out after her.

"You off too, Ma'am?"

She also barley turned to acknowledge his question, she needed to catch up to Dylan.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later..."

2Dads frowned at both their quick exits.

"I still think something strange is going on between those two."

Charge rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair.

"You and you're imagination!"

Kate sat in the car, she had parked it outside of the NACOM grounds so no one would see if they left together. Dylan jumped in the passenger side.

"Where's Lia?"

"At NAVCOM with Maxine… You know, this is gonna be harder that I thought..."

"Yeah, that's why I think we need to tell Maxine that we need to tell them..."

They knocked on Maxine's door and entered, Kate froze as she saw the other person standing with Maxine, it was him, the one who had abandoned her all those years ago, Mike Flynn.

"Kate? Kaaate?"

Dylan tapped her on the shoulder, she blinked a few times trying to focus.

"Oh sorry, you're busy Ma'am, we'll come back another time..."

Kate glanced at Dylan and gestured towards the door, Dylan wasn't sure why she was acting so strange. Maxine called out after her.

"It's okay Kate, what's up..."

She could feel Mike's eyes burning into hers willing her to look at him. Dylan stepped forward to voice his concerns over the situation, Kate placed a hand firmly on his shoulder pulling him back slightly and stepped in front of him.

"Ah, we just had a quick tour of the boat that's all, umm, it seems great..."

Dylan tried to make eye contact with Kate as if to ask "what's going on?" But her eyes were darting all over the room trying to avoid Mike's, Maxine and Mike stepped towards them.

"Well, that's good, and perfect timing, you're Commander has arrived back early. Lieutenant Kate McGregor and Petty Officer Dylan Mulholland, I'd like you to meet your Captain, Lieutenant Commander, Mike Flynn."

Kate felt her stomach churn, she prayed that this wasn't happening, that it was an illusion. Mike smiled and acted none the wiser and shook both their hands.

"Good to meet you both, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow 0700?"

Kate couldn't find her words, Dylan was confused about her silence.

"Yeah, sounds great!"

Kate immediately turned and headed for the door, Dylan ran after her. The collected Lia from Maxine's assistant and walked out of NACVOM.

Dylan picked Lia up and quickened his pace trying to catch up to Kate.

"Kate, What is going on?"

She stopped as she stepped out of the NAVCOM grounds.

"What are you talking about?"

She had to calm herself, she spun round and put a smile on her face. Dylan caught up to her and raised an eyebrow, something was up, and he knew that she was lying about it.

"Kate!"

She avoided his gaze and kept walking.

"Ah, I just, I didn't think it was a good idea to say anything while someone else was there, and do we even know if she's told Mike?"

She cringed at calling him Mike and not CO.

"Ah, I mean, this is all so complicated…"

She continued to walk to the car, Dylan shook his head slightly and put Lia back on the ground and grasped her hand. Lia looked up to Dylan inquisitively and tugged on his hand.

"Why is Mummy acting weird?"

Dylan laughed and shook his head.

"You noticed too, huh?"

They sat in the car in silence, Kate focused her eyes outside the car trying to avoid eye contact with Dylan at any cost, she knew that he could read her so well. She closed her eyes trying to clear her mind of her past encounter with Mike Flynn.

_Flashback _

_Kate rolled on to her left side and blindly patted the bed feeling for his body, but the space was cold and empty. She slowly opened her eyes to confirm the lack of the other person in her bed, it was true, he was gone. She looked around for his belongings that he had placed on the bedside table, they were gone too. On the pillow lay a note, she picked it and stared at it reading it over and over. Written on the paper was one word, "Sorry", she sat there for a moment trying to comprehend what had happened. She let out a grunt and scrunched it into a ball and threw it across the room. She brought her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs, what had happened? Their week together was perfect, maybe she was just blind, blinded by his charming smile, his endearing awkwardness, maybe it was all an act. _

_She propped herself up against the headboard, tears threatened to spill, and rubbed her hands over her face._

_"Don't cry Kate, don't cry."_

_She dragged herself out of bed and started to pack her suitcase, the tears started to fall, she felt so stupid. She stopped packing and sat on the bed and wiped her face. She sighed as she realised she still had the farewell drinks to attend, she thought about skipping it but it was a good networking opportunity and she wasn't going let him take that from her too._

_That afternoon she wandered around the city trying to distract herself. The evening was cocktail party and the only event of the week that didn't require her to wear uniform, if he was going to be there she wanted him to see what he was missing out on. She stopped walking for a moment, she wasn't usually this spiteful but something about him just pushed her buttons. The week they had spent together was wonderful, the wined and dinned, had great conversation and he said all the right things, she didn't really expect a full blown relationship as he was posted in Cairns and her in Adelaide but they had a connection. _

_She spotted a beautiful strapless floral dress in the window, she stopped and admired it. She gave herself a encouraging nod and walked into the store. She smiled as she stood in front of the mirror in the dressing room, it was perfect. _

_She cautiously walked into the cocktail reception, her eyes scanned the crowd, there were no familliar faces, she walked a lap of the room to double check. A waiter walked past her with a tray of sparkling, she quickly grabbed a glass and downed it. She wasn't normally the nervous type but all the Brass were in attendance and she always felt under the microscope when they were around. She placed herself at one of the free tables and observed everyone having a good time, she grabbed another drink and made an attempt to enjoy herself. _

_She walked around the room and made small talk with various colleagues, she smiled and nodded as she listened to their anecdotes, but she wasn't really interested._

_An hour later she had grown tired of Navy talk, she was angry at him for putting her in a mood. She would normally relinquish the opportunity to brag about her accomplishments and scores from ADFA but suddenly it wasn't important. She headed for the door and looked around to check if anyone noticed her sneaking out. She made her way to the public bar and sat herself at the bar and ordered a vodka._

_End of Flashback_

Dylan glanced back and forth from Kate to the road to check if her expression had changed, it hadn't. He wasn't sure what to make of the look on her face, it was a mix of anxiousness and anger. He was concerned, Kate would normally be the one to talk about what she was thinking, not bottle it up.

They arrived back at their house and Kate made her way upstairs and flopped onto the bed. Dylan didn't want to push her to talk, he knew better, he started dinner and gave her some space.

Kate sat up in her room trying not to freak out, why him? Why now? Australia was a big enough place that she thought she could avoid him. She felt terrible lying to Dylan, he didn't deserve to be shut out. He was the best thing to ever happen to her, she just hated that their first encounter was influenced by her negative feelings for Mike Flynn.

_Flashback_

_Kate leaned her head in one hand and took a sip from her glass, she cringed as it ran down her throat. She glanced out the corner of her eye as a very attractive blonde man sat down next to her, he turned his head slightly and caught her looking at him, she immediately focused her eyes back on her glass. Don't look Kate, he's exactly the type that you wanted to avoid. She heard him clear his throat and order a scotch on the rocks, she glanced back up at him and was shocked to see him staring straight back at her. A small smile crept across her face as he gave her a wink and a nod. _

_"Hey!"_

_She tried to act uninterested and broke eye contact._

_"Hi..."_

_He took a sip of his drink and scooted his chair closer._

_"Do you come here often?"_

_Kate let out a little scoff and sipped on her drink._

_"Seriously? That's your pick up line?"_

_He looked slightly shocked that she had called him out. _

_"Ah, was just making conversation..."_

_She turned ever so slightly and raised her eyebrow._

_"And what makes you think I wanted to have a conversation?"_

_He shrugged as he crunched on a piece of ice._

_"I dunno, I like to strike up conversations with people who I think are polite and interesting, but I was obviously wrong about the polite part."_

_He grabbed his drink off the bar and went to walk away. She felt awful, she was taking her anger out on the wrong man, she quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her_

_"Sorry, I just, it's been a long week... let's start again..."_

_He hesitated, she put on her best smile and patted the stool next to her._

_"Hi, I'm Kate... do you come here often?"_

_He smiled at her attempt to apologise and sat back down._

_"Dylan, and no, just visiting..."_

_Kate glanced at him over her glass trying to discreetly check him out. He was a little younger than her, maybe only by a few years, he was attractive and she was pretty sure he knew it. _

_She swallowed her mouthful and wondered why he picked her to talk to over all these other young attractive women. She wasn't down grading herself, she was confident with her looks and she knew she had the personality and smarts to match, but she didn't seem like his type. _

_He watched her and could see she was thinking, maybe even judging him._

_"Are you coming to any conclusions?"_

_She snapped back to reality nearly dropping her glass._

_"Huh?"_

_He laughed, he knew he had caught her out and he was right._

_"Conclusions, about me..."_

_He gave her a cheeky smile and ordered them another drink. Kate was busted, she could feel the red burn over her cheeks._

_He gave her a nudge with his elbow and laughed._

_"I'm only stirring... so umm, why are you here all by yourself?"_

_She finished her drink and swirled the ice around in her glass._

_"Is it illegal to be out by yourself?"_

_He scoffed and leaned in close._

_"Man, you don't make it easy do you?"_

_She shot him a cheeky grin and clinked her glass with his._

_"What? You want easy?"_

_Dylan caught her eye and refused to look away. _

_"No..."_

_She held his gaze and couldn't help but grin._

_"Good..."_

_They were locked in each others gaze for a moment, Kate wasn't quite sure what she was doing or what was happening but she was sick of over analysing everything. She picked up her refreshed glass and took a sip of her drink, why shouldn't she have a little fun? _

_"Anyway, so you wanted a conversation, are you from around here? Or are you just visiting? Work? Friends? Family?"_

_"Bit of everything! What about you?"_

_She sighed a little, she didn't want explain her her drama to a complete stranger._

_"Work, but that's boring, I don't really wanna talk about it..."_

_"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"_

_They were interrupted by cheer coming from the people in the bar, they turned and saw a crowd standing in front of a big screen._

_Port Adelaide were playing Fremantle, Port Adelaide had just scored a goal. _

_"Damn it, I forgot the game was on."_

_Kate jumped off her seat and headed In the direction of the TV, she sat at a free table closer to the screen. Dutchy tilted his head completely surprised at her reaction to the footy game, he picked up his glass and followed and sat beside her._

_"Didn't pick you for a footy gal?"_

_Kate scrunched up her face at his comment._

_"What did you pick me for?"_

_He shrugged realising it may have made him look like a dick._

_"No, I didn't mean, I umm..."_

_Kate laughed at his nervousness._

_"Now I'm just stirring... I live in Adelaide, it's kind of the local religion..."_

_Dutchy smirked and looked up at the screen._

_"Well Kate, it seems that we have a problem..."_

_"What?"_

_"I'm from Perth and am a Fremantle supporter..."_

_She laughed and have him a friendly shove._

_"Oh well, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointing night!"_

_He tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at the screen._

_"Ah, I don't think so, have you seen the score?"_

_Ollie Wines, Port Adelaide's co-caption has just missed a goal 25 meters out on a 45 degree angle, Kate threw her hands up in the air in disgust. _

_"Oh C'mon Ollie, I could have kicked that!"_

_Dylan chuckled and took a sip of his drink trying to disguise his amusement, he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, Kate looked like such a reserved, quiet person, not someone who chucked back drinks at the footy. His thoughts were interrupted by Kate as she leapt up and screamed at the TV. _

_"Holding the baaaaaaall!"_

_Dutchy's eyes widened and nearly spat out his mouthful, Kate sat back down and picked up her drink, she noticed him staring at her and glanced up at him._

_"What?"_

_His jaw was sore from smiling so much, he like this girl._

_"Marry me?"_

_Kate scoffed and playfully whacked him on the arm. _

_"Sure, like I'm gonna marry a Dockers supporter!"_

_She tilted her glass back and swallowed the last mouthful, she looked at him out the corner of her eye. It was nice to hang with a guy who was uncomplicated, well on the surface anyway. She waved her glass in front of him._

_"Another?"_

_He nodded and watched her walk to the bar, he shook his head at himself._

_"You're in trouble, Dylan."_

_He watched her intensely as she ordered the drinks, there was something about this woman that he couldn't put his finger on. He had already liked her more in the first 5 minutes of their encounter than most of the women he had dated for months. She was definitely more mature, but in a good way. Maybe it was because she wasn't trying to impress him, the exact opposite of any woman that he met in a bar. She was so easy to hang with, like she was one of the boys. _

_An hour later, and copious amounts of alcohol, the game was down to the last 30 seconds. The scores were level, Dylan and Kate sat on the edge of their seats. Kate playfully punched him on the shoulder as Paddy Ryder, the Port Adelaide Ruckman, lead forward and called for the ball. She jumped from her seat and screamed excitedly as he took a mark 35 metres outside of their goal. She persistently tapped Dylan on the shoulder, he laughed at her enthusiasm._

_"Are you ready to go home a loser?"_

_She held her breath as he took a run up, it was a perfect kick, right through the middle. The siren sounded and she leapt up from her seat and jumped around screaming, spilling her drink everywhere . Dylan stood in front of her and shook his head and smiled. She stopped jumping and tilted her heard confused as to why he was smiling._

_"Why are you smiling? You lost."_

_He shook his head slightly._

_"I didn't lose..."_

_Before she could question his statement he reached forward and cupped her face in his hands and pulled her in for a kiss. She sank into it for a moment but her mind screamed "No! No more charming guys! " She pulled away and looked into his eyes, she tried to reason with herself, he was nothing like him, they were complete opposites. Plus, why should she write him off just because she had one bad experience? It was just fun, right? She sculled the rest of her glass and chucked it into the table. _

_"Fuck it..."_

_She pulled him in by the front of his shirt and kissed him back. _

_End of Flashback_

End of Chapter 2.

Let me know what you thought! xx


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone!

Work is a draaaag right now so lets escape to my happy place Kate-and-Dutchy-land.

Thanks so much to everyone that's left a review! Nice to know I have loyal readers who love my crazy rants! even if they are far fetched and drama filled haha!

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 3

Kate lay on her bed tossing and turning, letting out the occasional grunt here and there, she wished that he didn't get to her so much, but she just couldn't understand how someone could just leave with no explanation.

She had barley thought of him over the past few years because she was happy with Dylan. The night she met Dylan she wasn't really looking for anything serious, she was really just looking to get over Mike but it turned into something, something special.

She sat up on the edge of the bed and ran her hands though her hair, she knew she was over thinking it, sure, it was a crappy week but maybe it meant nothing to Mike, why should she be so worked up about it?

She took a few deep breaths in and walked back downstairs, Dylan smiled as she entered the kitchen trying not to look concerned about her strange behaviour.

"Everything okay?"

Kate approached him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah, look, I umm, I thought you should know, I do know Mike Flynn..."

Dylan turned to face her a little concerned about her tone, he tried to shrug it off with humour.

"What? He an old lover?"

He teased her not knowing it was the truth, her heart skipped a beat, she so badly wanted to tell him the truth but she couldn't find her voice, she knew that Dylan thought their first encounter was special, that somehow it defined their relationship and she couldn't bring herself to destroy that picture in his mind. She took a deep breath in trying to figure out what to say, they never lied to each other and she felt awful.

"Umm, we had a bit of a run in years ago..."

He raised an eyebrow intrigued by what she meant by 'run in'.

"Oh, really? You give him a bit of Kate McGregor lip?"

Kate let out a halfhearted laugh, she wished she had.

"Yeah, something like that!"

Dylan rest his arms over her shoulders and leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it, he didn't seem to recognise you, maybe it wasn't that bigger deal to him, you know how you tend to overthink things..."

Kate moved her focus to the floor.

"Yeah, probably..."

Dutchy laughed, she almost looked disappointed, he gave her another squeeze.

"He obviously didn't get how special you are, because you're pretty hard to forget."

He pulled her into his embrace, her head resting on his chest, the smile dropped off her face as soon as she was out of his eye line.

"Thanks for letting me just be me…"

"What do you mean?

"I know I get into these stupid moods and I'm pretty much impossible to deal with."

Dylan held her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Kate, you have been difficult from the first moment we met, I've pretty much loved you from that second you called me out on my pickup line so…"

She gave him a playful shove.

"So you were trying to pick me up?"

They sat down on the couch, he gently brushed the hair away from her face and kissed the top of her head.

"I've never had to try so hard in my life, but that's how I knew you were a keeper!"

_Flashback. _

_The next morning Kate awoke in Dylan's arms, her eyes darted around the room trying to get her mind to remember what had happened. Her head was resting on his shoulder, she looked up at his face, he looked so peaceful sleeping. She couldn't help but enjoy their embrace, his arm wrapped around her back and his hand rested on her hip. He began to stir, and she immediately moved away and slid out of the bed and started to get dressed. Dylan opened his eyes and stretched his arms as he yawned, he looked over to Kate who was fumbling to get her clothes on._

_"What are you doing?"_

_Kate sat on the bed half dressed trying to do up her shoes._

_"We ah, we don't have to do the whole morning after thing, you know, we have breakfast in silence and an awkward farewell…"_

_Dutchy frowned and scurried over the bed and sat beside her, he grabbed her shoe forcing her to look at him._

_"Kate, look I don't know what you're used to but..."_

_She frowned and snatched the shoe back.._

_"What is that supposed to mean?"_

_He could see she was being deliberately evasive, he placed a hand on hers trying to get her to see he was actually interested in her._

_"Kate, I had a good time last night..."_

_Kate's eyes met his, and for a moment she felt a sense of calm, she shook her head and snapped back to reality, she couldn't do this, not after the week she had. She jumped off the bed and grabbed her handbag._

_"I better get back to my room, I have a flight to catch."_

_"Hey, me too, wanna grab an Uber together?"_

_Kate was halfway to the door before he finished his question._

_"I don't think so..."_

_She opened the door and looked left then right down the hallway trying to get her bearings, where was she? She suddenly realised that she was in her hotel, she frowned and turned and scanned the hotel room. She let out a frustrated huff and stormed back into the bedroom. Dylan lay with his hands behind his head on the bed with a large grin on his face._

_"This is your room."_

_Kate flopped back onto the bed._

_"Yeah, I just got that!"_

_Dylan laughed and hopped out of bed and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead._

_"Just gonna have a shower, if that's okay? My stuff is already downstairs with the concierge."_

_An hour later they had checked out and were waiting out the front of the hotel for an Uber. Dylan put his bag down and gently brushed his hand against hers._

_"So, you're not going to give me your number?"_

_Kate rolled her eyes and concentrated front and centre, she didn't need any more distractions, this was just a bit of fun, letting off some steam. _

_"Dylan, you live in Perth, I'm in Adelaide..."_

_"Yeah, about that..."_

_Kate spotted Captain Howard approaching and slightly stepped away from Dylan. She gave him a salute, Dylan's eyes widened as he saw her salute, she looked at him strangely for a moment and turned her attention back to Captain Howard. _

_"Sir, thank you for inviting me to attend this week, the training and information was invaluable."_

_He smiled and gave her a nod._

_"Your welcome, I'm glad you found it useful."_

_He turned his attention to Dylan._

_"Ah, Mulholland, glad you two have met, you could learn a thing or two from McGregor here..."_

_He smiled and shook his hand._

_"I already have, Captain!"_

_Dylan tried to hide his amusement as the Captain walked away, but as soon as he was out of earshot he bust out laughing. Kate tried not to react, but her mind was exploding, she hit him on the shoulder._

_"You're in the Navy?!"_

_Dylan gave her an uneasy smile._

_"Yeah..."_

_The Uber pulled up and Dylan packed the suitcases into the boot, Kate stood on the curb feeling nauseous. Dylan laughed and opened the passenger door._

_"You coming?" _

_The Uber ride was silent for the first few kilometres, Kate sat with her arms crossed over her chest and turned her head towards him._

_"How come you didn't tell me?"_

_He looked over to her trying to contain his smile._

_"You said work was boring, and you didn't want to talk about it."_

_Kate let out a frustrated huff and turned to face the window. _

_They arrived at the airport and lined up to check their bags, he stood close behind her, she could smell his cologne. She glanced behind her and exhaled loudly, she was irritated that everywhere she turned he was there._

_As she walked away from the check-in counter, she turned to see where he was, he was at the counter and looked up and gave her a wink. _

_She walked a little faster to her gate hoping she would lose him, she plonked herself down and looked around, she sighed with relief, he was nowhere to be seen. _

_She boarded the plane and put on her headphones, all she wanted to do was get home and pretend none of this ever happened. _

_She felt a presence above her, someone needed to get past her to their seat. She stood and moved out the way as he placed his bag into the overhead locker, he shut the overhead door and Kate's smile immediately dropped off her face seeing the passenger._

_"Dylan?"_

_She sat down speechless, he shuffled into his seat beside her._

_"Hi..."_

_She pulled the seat belt out from under he and re clasped it._

_"I thought you said you were from Perth..."_

_"I am, but I've just been transferred to Adelaide..."_

_Kate closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat and put on her headphones and turned up the volume. _

_She spent the flight trying to avoid looking over at him, she could feel his eyes on her. The flight felt like it took 10 hours but in reality it was only 90 minutes. They landed and filed off the plane, Dylan caught up with Kate and pulled on her arm. _

_"So, I guess we'll be seeing more of each other?"_

_"I guess so..."_

_She went to walk off, but he pulled her back again._

_"Ah, you know I wasn't lying when I said that I had a good time. I'd like to take you out sometime..."_

_She pursed her lips together trying to avoid them forming a smile, she had to give him credit for determination._

_"Dylan, I don't think that's a good idea..."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Well, as far as I know there is only one Navy base in Adelaide, so I assume we'll be working together."_

_"Yeah, but the non-fraternisation rule is only on board."_

_"I just, I don't think I can handle a boyfriend and working in the Navy, little own a boyfriend who is in the Navy."_

_He reached out and grasped her hand._

_"Well, let me prove to you that you can..."_

_Kate hesitated trying to decide whether she should take a chance, he seemed to really like her. _

_"We'll see..."_

_She walked off leaving him smiling. _

_Kate swung open the front door of her apartment and flopped on to her couch, home, it was good to be home, but she was worried that some of the drama had followed. Her phone beeped, she rummaged around in her bag and fished it out. A smile crept across her face as she read the sender's name. "The guy you won't marry cos he's a Dockers supporter."_

_"Hey..."_

_She replied instantly._

_"How did you get my number?"_

_"Magic..."_

_She let out a scoff, 3 dots appeared on the screen and she waited._

_"So, in case you didn't hear me, I had a really good time last night, I would really like to see you again."_

_Kate sat there trying to think of something smart to say, she grinned as she typed her message._

_"You will see me, on Monday, at work..."_

_The dots appeared again._

_"Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying..."_

_"Goodnight, Mulholland..."_

_Kate rubbed her hands over her face and grabbed a cushion and held it to her face and screamed into it._

_The next morning Kate walked through HMAS Encounter HQ to her office with her usual giant cup of coffee. She swung open her door, Dylan was perched on the edge of her desk, his presence startled her and she spilled her coffee down her front, she let out a yelp as it burnt her skin. Dylan jumped off the desk to assist her, he grabbed some tissues and dabbed them over the coffee stain, she grabbed his hand stopping him. _

_"Ah, I got this..."_

_Dylan stopped realising he was patting down her chest. _

_"Ah, sorry, Ma'am..."_

_She shook her head and looked down at the semi see though brown stain. _

_"Why it's white is beyond me?! Umm, did you need something?"_

_He couldn't hold back his smirk. _

_"Well, it's my first day, and I need a…"_

_He raised his eyebrows suggestively._

_"Debriefing..."_

_He caught her eye still smiling, she didn't look impressed. _

_"Sorry Ma'am, I couldn't help myself! Umm, I'll wait if you want to get changed."_

_Kate shook her head and stormed into the bathroom with her spare shirt. _

_"Focus, Kate!"_

_After changing her shirt she took a few minutes to compose herself she stared at her refection in the mirror._

_"Get a grip, Kate. Mike was charming and look where that got you!"_

_She took a deep breath in strutted back to her office, she opened the door and confidently walked towards her desk and sat, Dylan sat opposite her still smiling. _

_"What are you smiling at?"_

_"Kate, how can you not laugh, I couldn't have planned this better... look, I like you..."_

_Kate scrunched up her face, she didn't mean for her feelings to read over her face but they were at work, she needed to keep it professional._

_"Ah, lets just remember where we are, Mulholland..."_

_She glanced down at the file in front of her, Dylan towards her on the desk. _

_"C'mon, you like me too, I can tell..."_

_She scoffed and leaned in to challenge his cockiness._

_"Oh really, and how can you tell?"_

_He sat back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest with an all knowing look on his face._

_"Oh, I'm not giving away that secret, it'll come in handy when we're an old married couple having a fight!"_

_Kate let out a snort, he was being ridiculous. _

_"Anyway, why are you here!? I haven't requested any newbies..."_

_He shrugged._

_"I dunno, it was where I was sent, maybe you lot needed a bit of excitement?"_

_"Yeah, sure, I'm just dying to clean up whatever mess you cause..."_

_She glanced back down at his file, he could see her eyes skimming over the words, he waited for her to get to the part that he hated. He noticed her pupils widen a little but continue to read, she cleared her throat and she closed the file._

_"So umm, you've seen a bit of action then?"_

_Dutchy dropped his head, he wished that she didn't have access to that information. A woman he liked was currently reading about the worst moment in his life. _

_"Ah, yeah."_

_Kate watched as Dylan turned from a confident, cocky guy to a vulnerable child, she frowned a little, why was he ashamed of his actions? He was a hero, he saved the lives of 6 of his crew. He refused to meet her gaze, she could tell he didn't want to talk about it, it was probably all he had done, talked with shrinks, with the press, the brass. He glanced up at her trying to think of something to say and was met with her encouraging smile._

_"Well, it's good to know that you've got some experience under your belt, you'll be a great asset here..."_

_Dylan tilted his head a little, he was confused, normally when people read that part of his file all they had was questions about the incident in the gulf. His breathing intensified, he became anxious, she wasn't saying anything, he wondered what she was thinking about him. His eyes met hers and a wave of calm came over him, he could tell she had questions but somehow she knew it wasn't something he discussed openly. She reached out and touched his hand trying to comfort him._

_"It's okay, Dylan..."_

_He glanced down at her hand on his, and in that moment he knew, it may have felt stupid, but he knew she was the one._

_That night Kate sat at her dinning room table, paperwork spread everywhere. She threw her pen down on the table unable to concentrate, all she could this of was him, she smiled slightly thinking of his cheeky smile. She jumped as there was a knock on her door, she frowned, she wasn't expecting any visitors. She touched her phone to check the time, 7:49pm. She let out a huff and rose from her seat. She peered through the peephole and rolled her eyes, it was him. She opened the door with one her hand on her hip._

_"How did you know where I live?"_

_Dylan smiled and held up the bags of take away._

_"I guess you wouldn't believe that I moonlight as an UberEATS driver?"_

_Kate held her straight face, she had to be tough._

_"I didn't order UberEATS..."_

_Dylan went to step inside her door, she refused to move. He held the bags closer to her face trying to tempt her._

_"I didn't know what your favourite was, so I've got pizza, Chinese, fish and chips. Oh and for dessert, cheesecake, crème brûlée and chocolate mousse..."_

_He smiled as he saw her eyes widen at chocolate mousse. _

_"Ah, we have a winner…"_

_He barged passed her and headed for her dining room table. He moved the paperwork aside and unpacked the food, he sat making himself comfortable and glanced up at her. _

_"It's getting cold..."_

_She slammed the door shut and stomped over to the table and plonked herself on the chair. She picked up a prawn chip and crunched on it staring at him, he smiled and started to eat his food. _

_A small smile crept across her face and she picked up her fork. They sat there eating in silence, Kate sighed and glanced over to him. _

_"You're a good guy aren't you?"_

_He glanced up at her and gave her a wink._

_"The best..."_

_Kate was the first to look away and continued to eat. _

_"Good..."_

_She giggled and threw a prawn chip onto his plate._

_"Even though you're a Dockers supporter..."_

End Chapter 3.

As usual let me know what you're loving... or hating... xx


	4. Chapter 4

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 4.

The next morning Kate and Dutchy arrived at the docks, Kate purposefully hung back to warn off any suspicious eyes. They headed down below, 2Dads heard their footsteps and poked his head out of his cabin, his eyes lit up and ran up to Dylan.

"Hey, roomie!"

He pulled Dutchy towards their cabin, Kate shook her head slightly and made her way to hers and started to unpack.

There was a knock on her door, she called out for them to enter. She turned hearing the door open and was faced with a sheepish looking Mike Flynn.

"Lieutenant..."

Kate straightened herself and stood to attention.

"Sir."

He stepped inside the cabin and closed the door, Kate immediately turned back around and continued to unpack.

"Ah, what can I do for you, Sir?"

She heard him step closer, she closed her eyes hoping she could keep it together.

"Kate..."

She felt all the hairs stand on their ends and a shiver ran from her head to toes, she hated the way he said her name, it used to put a smile on her face but now it made her want to change her name.

"Sir?"

She knew she was being disrespectful by not facing him, she sighed and slowly turned not knowing what she was going to say.

"Kate, I'm hoping that there will be no issues with us working together?"

She shook her head barely making eye contact.

"No Sir, why would there be?"

Mike eyes were the ones who were now avoiding hers.

"Ah, okay, we're all good then..."

She gave him a slight nod and turned back to her bag.

"Yes, Sir..."

Mike stood there for another moment wondering whether he should continue, she heard him exhale and then the sound of the cabin door click shut. Kate sat on her rack and let out a frustrated growl. Why did he get to her?

There was another knock, Kate cautiously opened the door hoping it wasn't Mike, she smiled, relieved to see Dutchy's face, he slid into her cabin and closed the door.

"Everything okay? I saw him come in here?!"

"Yeah, he was actually checking that we were okay..."

He gave her a nudge with his elbow.

"Oh, so you were memorable then..."

She let out a fake laugh and avoided his eyes.

"Yeah, seems like it!"

"So, what did he say?"

Kate didn't know what to tell him, she didn't want to continue to lie but this definitely wasn't the place to discuss it. Fortunately for her they were interrupted by Mike's voice over the PA.

"XO and PO Mulholland to the bridge..."

She sighed with relief and went to open the door, Dylan grabbed her hand and pulled her back with such force their bodies collided with a thud. They both burst out laughing, Dylan gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and squeezed her hand and smiled.

"You ready?"

She nodded and went to open the door again but felt Dylan's hand still gripping hers, she looked down at their intertwined hands then back up at him.

"Ah, Petty Officer…"

He looked at their hands and cringed.

"Oops, sorry…"

He dropped his hand and saluted.

"Ma'am…"

She rolled her eyes and shoved him out the door.

2Dads nudged Charge in the ribs and nodded towards them both as they walked up the stairs to the bridge together. Charge shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes at 2Dads suggestion. Mike turned hearing them enter and smiled in their direction.

"Ah, there you two are! "

Dutchy gave him a nod and Kate caught his eyes then quickly looked away, Mike stepped towards them.

"So, PO Mulholland..."

Charge cleared his throat interrupting them and smirked.

"Dutchy..."

Mike glanced back at Dylan for confirmation that "Dutchy" was okay, he gave him a nod.

"And, Lieutenant McGregor..."

Mike looked in Charge's direction waiting for him to announce her nickname but he had nothing and shrugged. Dutchy tried to hold it in but couldn't, he let out a laugh.

"Princess Perfect..."

Kate's cheeks immediately turned a bright shade of red, she kicked him in the shin while the crew let out varying levels of giggles. Dylan leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Kate stood there quietly fuming, Mike wasn't quite sure what was happening in front of him.

"Anyway, so umm, Dutchy, you've been out in the action for most of your career?"

"Yes, Sir. I love being out at sea..."

Mike turned to Kate smiling.

"And Princess, I mean X..."

The crew burst out laughing, Kate wasn't having a bar of it and her anger was made worse seeming the joke had come from him. Mike could see she was less than impressed and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"C'mon X, lighten up, it's just a joke..."

She grit her teeth forced a smile while she shot a death glare towards Dutchy.

"Yes, Sir."

"So, you've been on shore for a while?"

"Yes, Sir. I returned for a few months a couple of years ago but..."

She quickly glanced at Dutchy and then back to Mike, she already hated this situation . She didn't want to give Mike the impression she couldn't handle it, it was more Lia was suffering without her.

"Ah, personal issues, Sir."

"Right, so we need to catch you up a bit... ah, Charge, why don't you show the X around..."

Charge smiled and made a path for her while curtsying.

"Princesses first..."

Kate clenched her jaw trying not to let it get to her, Mike gave Charge a warning look, he muffed his laugh with his hand.

"Sorry X, couldn't help myself!"

Kate proceeded to walk down the stairs shaking her head, Charge walked behind her and mouthed to the rest of the crew.

"Wish me luck!"

Mike shook his head and turned his attention back to Dylan.

"So, where were you last, mate?"

Dylan looked confused, he was sure Mike would have familiarised himself with his file, his body stiffened as a thought entered his mind, if he had seen his file, he'd probably seen Kate's.

"Ah, haven't you read my file, Sir?"

"Ah, no, haven't had time, but Commander White has, she said there were no alarm bells so..."

Dutchy's body relaxed and he sighed with relief.

"Well, that's good to know! Ah, so, I was in Adelaide for a bit, some on shore work and some fly in fly out because of Cordelia, my daughter."

Dylan winced, he didn't mean to divulge anything about Lia, Mike raised an eyebrow surprised at the piece of information.

"Daughter?!"

Dutchy scoffed and looked around at the strange expressions on everyone's faces.

"Why is that such a surprise to everyone?!"

Down in the comms room Kate fiddled with the dials familiarising herself with the equipment, Charge cleared his throat to break the silence.

"So, where else have you been posted?"

"Ah, Geelong, Adelaide and now here..."

Charge nodded along and smiled, there was another pause in the conversation.

"So, you're a lifer?"

Kate turned and looked at him mildly offended at the assumption, Charge noticed her disapproving expression and quickly broke eye contact feeling slightly awkward.

"What makes you think that? Cos I'm not married?"

Charge glanced down at her left hand, the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

"No, not at all, Ma'am, you've just been a lot of places... I imagine that would be hard if you had a family and a partner that had a 9-5 job, that's all..."

It frustrated Kate that people were making these assumptions about her, she knew they weren't bad people but she had spent a lot of her life defending her career choice and having to prove herself.

"Actually, I do have a partner, and a child..."

She cringed, she had let her stubbornness get in the way and now she was going to have to explain without giving too much away. Charge was a little lost for words.

"Oh, why weren't they at the pub then? We would have loved to meet them."

Kate quickly turned back to the dials and cursed at herself.

"Yeah, well, someone has to look after..."

She hesitated, she needed to think of another name, what had Dutchy already introduced her as? Her mind was blank.

"Lia..."

She held her breath waiting for Charge to react but he didn't, he smiled.

"Cool, so you have a daughter..."

"Ah, yeah, she's 6..."

"Hey, that's the same ages as Dutchy's daughter, you were posted together, yeah? Do your kids know each other..."

"Yeah, umm, they're friends..."

Charge frowned, he could tell she was being evasive but he wasn't sure why, he shrugged, maybe she didn't enjoy talking about her private life.

"Well, that's good, it's nice that she has a friend here..."

Kate's eyes darted to the door as she saw Dylan walk past.

"Ah, just excuse me for a moment, Charge."

Before he could answer she leapt off the seat and followed Dylan down the corridor and shoved him into the senior sailors mess. She slammed the door shut and stood with her hands on her hips.

"Seriously? Princess Perfect?"

Dylan let out a nervous laugh not expecting her to be annoyed.

"C'mon, Kate, I was just trying to break the ice, you know, a bit of banter, we're the new guys and…"

Kate knew that he didn't mean it to be a big deal but it was a big deal to her, she needed for the crew to take her seriously.

"I don't expect you to understand, you're one of them?"

"Huh?"

Kate shook her head and ran her hand over her forehead.

"Don't worry…"

Dylan stood there waiting for her to continue, he reached out and grasped her hand.

"Kate, c'mon, it was a joke…"

She opened the door as a signal for him to leave, he went to touch her shoulder as she left but she moved away, he shook his head and left.

Kate took a deep breath in and sat down, she hunched herself over and placed her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

Swain walked down the hall and glanced in, he stopped and peered into the room and observed a deflated looking Kate. He knocked on the door and startled her, she immediately sat up straight and smiled.

"Swain, what can I do for you?"

"Ma'am?"

He entered trying to think of something to say that wouldn't appear offensive, he smiled and sat at the other side of the table.

"Ah, everything okay?"

She forced a smile and nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Swain knew she was putting on a brave face, he didn't want to embarrass her further but wanted to give her some support.

"It'll get easier…"

She frowned pretending not to know what he was talking about. Swain let out a laugh, he knew that she knew what he was referring too.

"They're a good bunch, Ma'am, don't be afraid to get to know them, they may come off as immature but you'll learn to love them. Has the Boss given you the 'we're a family' speech yet…"

Kate laughed a shook her head.

"Umm, no…"

"Ha, just wait, it'll come… but anyway, they're, we're good people, and we are like family, if you have our back we'll have yours…"

Kate smiled, she still felt on the outer but appreciated Swain's attempt at making her feel more comfortable.

Mike's voice came over the PA.

"XO to the bridge..."

"Well, thanks Swain…"

"Anytime…"

Kate ran up to the bridge, Mike approached from the EOD.

"Possible FFV, they're not responding by radio, Bird is attempting to contact them by loudhailer..."

Bird ran in from the deck.

"They're not slowing, Sir."

Kate, Dylan and Mike stood on the Port side of the Hammersley.

"Take a boarding party, Dutchy..."

Dylan gave him a nod and headed for the armoury, Kate grabbed Dutchy's arm stopping him, she gave Mike a questioning glare.

"Ah, is there a reason I'm not leading this one, Sir?"

Dylan glanced back and forth from Mike and Kate hoping there wasn't an issue for their previous encounter, Mike glanced over to Kate.

"Ah, just thought you might have wanted to get your sea legs first..."

"I'm fine... Sir..."

Mike glanced at Dutchy, he shrugged.

"Not a problem with me, Sir..."

Mike gave Kate a nod of approval.

"All yours then X, I'd suggest taking 2Dads and Bird..."

"As you wish, Sir..."

Kate left to get her boarding gear, Dutchy paused for a moment and gave Mike and all-knowing smile, Mike was a little confused at his expression and walked back into the bridge.

"Bird, 2Dads, join the X and Dutchy..."

"Yes, Boss!"

They answered in unison and went to collect their boarding gear.

On approach on the RHIB Kate stood up slightly and gave her orders to the others.

"Okay, Dutchy with Bird , 2Dads with me, you guys take the wheelhouse... got it?"

They all gave her a nod and lowered their visors, the RHIB came alongside the vessel and Dutchy boarded followed by Kate, 2Dads then Bird.

Dutchy and Bird headed for the wheelhouse as Kate and 2Dads checked the deck, it was empty, she gave 2Dads a nod and they lifted their visors.

"All good?"

He nodded back, she made her way up to the front of the boat as Dutchy exited the wheelhouse with the captain restrained.

"All good, Kate?"

2Dads looked at him strangely, Dutchy realised he had called her Kate.

"Oh, sorry, I mean, Ma'am?"

Kate tried not to react, she needed to concentrate, this was her first boarding, and she needed to go well.

"Yeah, back deck is clear, just going to check around the bow and then we can all go below."

Dylan pushed the Captain towards 2Dads.

"I'll come with you…"

She shook her head and stopped.

"It's fine Petty Officer…"

She turned to make her way to the bow of the boat, they all froze hearing a safety of a gun being released. Dutchy quickly pushed the captain towards Kate and 2Dads purposely knocking them down out of the line of fire. Kate went flying into the water, Dutchy let off a couple of rounds hitting a fisherman in the shoulder and into the water. Bird ran from the back of the boat to the wheelhouse and stopped the boat, Dutchy grabbed his radio.

"Bravo 82 to Papa 82, we need immediate assistance, 2 POB overboard, please send the other RHIB, I repeat 2 POB overboard."

Dutchy scoured the water for any signs of Kate.

"2Dads we need to secure the boat, Bird, turn the boat around and look for the X..."

20 minutes later Dutchy and 2Dads has restrained the fisherman below and come up to the deck, the other RHIB has arrived with Swain and Charge and they had found Kate and the injured fisherman. They attached to boat to tow back to base and re-bordered the Hammersley.

Swain was checking over Kate in the wardroom, Dutchy ran down to check on her.

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

Swain held a light up to her eyes, she batted it away.

"Swain, I'm fine..."

He gave her a disapproving look and held the light to her eyes once again.

"The faster you let me do this the sooner it will be over..."

She frowned and let out a huff and cooperated with his directions.

Swain finished his checks and glanced at Dylan who was hovering like a bad smell.

"Ah, something I can help you with Dutchy?"

"Umm, I just wanted to check on the X..."

Swain glanced at Kate then Dutchy.

"Yeah, umm, sure, I gotta fill out some paperwork anyway, I'll leave you two to it..."

Swain left the room, Kate got up and placed her hair into a ponytail, she winced as the tie tugged on her hair, Dutchy noticed immediately and sat next to her.

"You're not fine, you could have a concussion..."

She focused on him and scowled.

"Yeah, no thanks to you!"

Dutchy was taken aback with her tone.

"Excuse me?"

She shook her head and stood as she attempted to loosen her ponytail, she walked over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water and turned and leaned against the sink.

"You can't be like this Dylan, we have to work together?"

He approached cautiously not wanting to work her up, especially with a head injury.

"What are you talking about? Is this about the stupid Princess Perfect thing?"

Kate rolled her eyes, she knew he would deny it.

"No! You were too overprotective..."

Dylan scrunched up his face not agreeing with her.

"Ah, yeah I'm pretty sure that's my job, to have your back right?"

Kate let out a groan, she was afraid that this would be a problem.

"Have my back yes, but also give me a chance to handle the situation too... I heard the safety unlock, I had my gun drawn..."

Dutchy raised his hands and interrupted.

"Hang on, I was just..."

Kate crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow waiting for his answer.

"Just what?"

Dutchy stood there for a moment contemplating his answer.

"I was…"

Kate thought he was backing down, Dylan looked up and saw the satisfied look on her face and tried to hold it in but he couldn't, he let out a frustrated grunt and raised his voice slightly.

"I was doing my bloody job!"

She didn't expect him to deny it, she clenched her jaw, she thought he would understand, after all they were both in the Navy and he saw how much she copped.

"Don't do this! Don't make it personal."

Dutchy took a step towards her trying to emphasise his point.

"Personal? You're the one making it personal?"

Out in the hallway Charge and 2Dads had positioned themselves beside the door but could only hear muffled raised voices. They were startled by Mike clearing his throat.

"Something interesting about this door gentleman?"

They stood to attention, Charge glanced at 2Dad then back at Mike.

"Ah, no, Sir..."

There was a silence and then more raised voices, Mike frowned in the door's direction.

"Who's in there?"

2Dads and Charge tried to play dumb and shrugged.

"Not sure, Sir..."

Mike rolled his eyes and knocked and entered without hesitation, Dylan and Kate heard the door open the froze like a stunned deer in headlights

"What is going on in here? We can hear you guys from the galley!"

Neither of them spoke, they both glared at each other expecting the other one to crack. Mike wasn't in the mood, he shook his head and focused his attention on Kate.

"XO, my cabin, now..."

She glanced at a Dutchy and gave Mike a single nod.

"Yes, Sir..."

Mike and Kate left for his cabin, 2Dads and Charge waited till they were out of sight and snuck back to the wardroom. Charge entered and whacked Dylan on the arm as he made himself a brew.

"What was that all about?"

Dylan took a sip of his brew and cringed, he had forgotten how bad Navy coffee was.

"What do you mean?"

They both looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"C'mon Dutchy, you guys were ripping into each other, but I don't understand why, also, do you have a death wish?"

In Mike's cabin Kate stood to attention focused on the wall while Mike paced around her.

"Do you have a problem with Dutchy?"

Kate tried to hold in her ironic laugh, it was exactly the opposite, she stayed silent. Mike stopped pacing because of her lack of answer and stood in front of her.

"I expect an answer, XO..."

"No, Sir."

Mike knew she was lying, he followed her eyes around the cabin and let out a grunt.

"Well, it seems that you do, can you explain what the shouting was about please?"

Kate still refused to make eye contact.

"It was a misunderstanding, Sir"

Mike turned and slammed his hand on his desk and sat down and rubbed his forehead.

"XO, we are a tight-knit team, a family, if you will. And I don't need two new crew members who think it's acceptable to have all out rows on my ship! Understand? Now, I'll ask you one more time, do you and PO Mulholland have an issue? Cos I'll be speaking to him too!"

"We had a difference of opinion on how the situation should have been handled, Sir..."

Mike was still not impressed with her explanation, something wasn't right and he didn't understand why she now seemed to be protecting Dutchy, maybe she was protecting herself.

"Okay, well I am going to speak to PO Mulholland, can you send him in here please."

Kate gave him a single nod as left his office, she found Dutchy in the ward room surrounded by Charge and 2Dads. They immediately stopped talking as Kate entered the room, she gave them both disapproving looks and focused on Dutchy.

"Ah, the Boss wants a word."

They walked down the corridor, Kate pulled him aside into the senior sailors mess.

"I haven't said anything, I said we disagreed on how things should have been handled, that's the truth..."

Kate made her way back to her cabin and threw herself on to her rack.

Dutchy walked into Mikes cabin.

"You wanted to see me, Sir."

"Yes, Dutchy. Come in, close the door."

Dutchy let out a small sigh and closed the door, Mike positioned himself in front of Dutchy

"Look, I know you've been out on ships before and I shouldn't have to tell you how important it is that we work as a team, and that things like this can cause too much drama."

Dutchy nodded along.

"Yes, Boss."

"Do you and Lieutenant McGregor have an issue working together?"

"No, Boss."

"Right, well what was that about before?"

"Ah, we disagreed on the handling of the situation."

Mike couldn't understand why neither of them were talking, he inhaled sharply trying not to get too frustrated.

"Well, you guys, more than anyone, need to work seamlessly and get your head in the game? Understand?"

"Yes, Boss."

Mike shook his head in frustration and opened his cabin door.

"Go sort it out, now!"

Dutchy quickly vacated Mike's cabin and headed to Kate's, he knocked on the door and poked his head in. Kate was lying on her rack with her hands over her face, she was obviously uncomfortable and in pain.

"Kate?"

She didn't bother to look up, she didn't have the strength to fight.

"Not now, Dutchy..."

He frowned at her calling him Dutchy, she always called him Dylan in private.

"Kate, c'mon, this is silly…"

She spun round with an agitated expression on her face.

"Silly? My reputation is silly?"

Dylan stepped inside the cabin and shut the door.

"No, of course not, Kate…"

She rose from her rack, the blood rushed from her head and she stumbled a little, Dylan stepped forward to assist her but she swatted away his hands.

"You can't protect me like this, I'm supposed to be in charge, I can't have people think I'm not capable of doing my job…"

"No one thinks that, Kate…"

He placed a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her, she immediately shrugged it off.

"It's just so easy for you, you're one of the boys."

They had never had this issue before, he didn't understand why she was getting so worked up about it. There weren't any sides but even if there were he would be on hers, he stepped forward to try to comfort her.

"Kate…"

She shook her head and stepped back out of his reach.

"On board, it's XO or Ma'am, now can you please leave me alone…"

Dylan knew she had a point, but he couldn't help but feel a little hurt, he headed to the door and turned before leaving.

"Yes, Ma'am…"

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Later that afternoon the Hammersley had docked and Dylan had convinced Kate to go to the hospital.

They got into the car and it was silent, he started the car and pulled out of the parking area hoping Kate would start the conversation, but nothing, he let out a sigh, loud enough for her to hear.

"So are you gonna keep ignoring me?"

Kate turned her head further towards the window trying to think of something productive to say, not wanting to to start another fight. She knew they were both stubborn and his loaded question didn't help, she let out a bigger sigh and turned towards him.

"Do you at least understand my point?"

Dylan didn't want to keep going around in circles, he did understand but he didn't know why she was making it such a big deal about it, she needed to see his point too.

"I do, Kate, but you can't go off at me every time I try and help you. I don't see the difference between being protective and having your back, so we may have to agree to disagree."

She was instantly irritated and whipped her head round to face him.

"We can't, we can't make it obvious..."

Dutchy turned his attention back to the road, he wasn't sure if his next question was going to send her over the edge.

"Kate, I'm confused, is this about me calling your Princess Perfect? Or me having your back? Or is this about the run in you had with the CO?"

He glanced over to her hoping he could tell the answer from her expression but it was blank, he held his breath waiting for her response. She leaned her elbow against the door frame and her head against her hand thinking about a way to respond. It was everything, it was all getting to her and she knew she was taking it all out on him. She winced as he head throbbed from the movement and re-positioned herself and turned towards him and let out a huff.

"I stuffed up today, I told Charge I had a family."

Dylan was surprised, it just confirmed to him that it she was overwhelmed, if Kate couldn't keep it in, then no one could. She crossed her arms over he chest frustrated at herself.

"Yeah, I know, he got to me, I may have been a bit defensive."

Dylan laughed and reached over and rubbed her arm.

"You? Defensive? Never!"

Kate playfully whacked him on the arm.

"Yeah and then when I mentioned Lia I couldn't remember what you had introduced her as, Lia or Cordelia..."

"I introduced her at Cordelia..."

"Yeah, I figured cos he didn't finch when I said Lia, but we don't need this extra pressure..."

They arrived at the hospital and Kate was taken for a CT scan, Dylan sat in the waiting room. Mike entered the hospital looking for Kate and spotted Dylan.

"Dutchy, what are you doing here?"

"I bought Ka...Ah, the X to get her scan."

Mike looked at him strangely, they were at each others throats earlier and now he was taking her to the hospital. Dylan could tell Mike was confused about the situation.

"Well, it could have been my fault, so I thought I should be the one to make sure she was okay."

Mike nodded sat next to him, maybe this could work after all.

"Well, that's very nice of you, I can take Kate home if you like? You should be getting home to your daughter anyway."

"Oh, that's okay, Sir..."

"I insist, go..."

Dylan winced a little as he rose from the chair and headed for the door, unsure of how Kate was going to react seeing Mike instead of him. He took out his phone to text Kate.

"Mike is taking you home, I'll grab Lia and make ourselves scarce at home, sorry, I'll explain later."

30 minutes later Kate walked out of the doctors office and jumped a little seeing Mike. Mike noticed her reaction and smiled trying to reassure her.

"Hey..."

Kate cautiously approached avoiding direct eye contact.

"Ah, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to check that you were okay, I told you, Kate, we're a family..."

Kate cringed again as as he called her by her christian name.

"Well, thanks..."

She glanced down at her phone in her hand and saw the message from Dutchy.

"So, umm you're taking me home?"

"Yeah, thought we could talk..."

Kate headed for the exit hoping that he didn't want to talk about their past. Mike headed towards Kate's house periodically glancing over to her, she shook her head sightly and let out a scoff.

"You're the one who said you wanted to talk…"

Mike cleared his throat thinking of how to begin.

"So, you're okay with this?"

Kate continued to stare out the window avoiding his eyes, she knew what he was talking bout but didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"With what?"

"With ah, with working together."

Kate clenched her jaw and tried to compose herself, why did he keep bringing this up? Mike could see she was hesitant to talk and continued.

"I, umm, I just don't..."

Kate turned to face him, she was annoyed, frustrated, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Mike, the least you could do is be an adult about this. If you wanna talk about the past that's fine, but spit it out for gods sake!"

Mike was a little taken aback by her outburst.

"Ah, okay, I wanted to explain..."

She shook her head and held up her hand stopping him, she didn't want to hear his excuses, she didn't want to be talking about it full stop, it was in the past, irrelevant.

"You don't need to, it was nearly 7 years ago, Mike, I just, it hurt at the time, that's all."

Mike nodded with agreement.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Kate sat there in silence, Mike wasn't sure if she accepted his apology or not, but he decided to drop it. Kate let out a scoff, she didn't want to talk about it but she could help herself, she needed to have the last say.

"Well, it's the past, I have a partner and a daughter now..."

She cringed, why did she feel the need to one up him? Mike turned to her and smiled.

"Oh, well that's good. Yeah, me too, well a son, not a daughter, and a wife."

Kate flashed him an insincere smile then focused out the window.

"Good, it worked out for the best then."

"Yeah, I guess it did, but I still want to say that I'm sorry."

He wanted to make sure she heard him, he meant it but they had to work together and they didn't need any more drama. Kate continued to look out the window.

"Say it all you like... ah, just on the left here..."

Mike had barely stopped the car when Kate swung open the door, she raced up the front path and into her house. Mike sat in the car more confused than before.

"Yeah, bye..."

Kate slammed the front door and leaned her body against it trying to calm herself, Dutchy poked his head down the stairwell checking that she was alone.

"All clear?"

She nodded and he made his way down the stairs, he could see Kate was flustered, her cheeks were red and her brow was heavily creased.

"What's going on?"

She shook her head and made her way into the kitchen trying to avoid his questions.

"Nothing..."

As she plonked her bag on the chair there was a knock on the door, Dutchy opened it without thinking and was faced with a very confused looking Mike. His eyes widened and he announced his arrival loudly.

"Boss! Ah, Hi!"

Mike took a moment to try and figure out the situation in his head, Dutchy could see her was trying to work through it and interrupted.

"Oh, I just dropped the X some dinner, trying to umm, be a better team..."

Mike nodded without saying anything, still not sure about it.

"Okay, umm the X left her scans in my car..."

Dutchy snatched them out of his hand at the same time he heard footsteps behind him and Lia's voice.

"Who's at the door?"

Dutchy turned round to find Lia standing there in her PJ's and toothbrush in hand.

"Ah..."

He glanced from Lia to Mike in a panic.

"Umm, this is Mummy's new Boss, Commander Flynn..."

Kate came bolting out of the kitchen and scooped her up in her arms.

"Hey, you're supposed to be in bed!"

"But Mum! Your boss is here, and I want to hear about the boats!"

Kate glanced at Mike and the dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Tomorrow, sweetie... say goodnight."

Lia pouted and frowned, Mike could help but laugh, it was the same expression Kate's face made when she was annoyed. Lia turned towards Mike and her sour look changed into a sweet smile.

"Goodnight, Boss!"

She giggled and waved as Kate carried her up the stairs. Dutchy turned back to Mike who was still staring in the direction of the stairs.

"Well, thanks for the scans. See you in a few days."

Mike stood there staring at the stairs, Dylan looked back up, there was nobody there.

"Boss?"

"Ah, never mind..."

Mike turned and walked down the garden path deep in thought.

Dylan ran up the stairs to find Kate, she was lying on the bed with a wet face washer over her forehead. Dylan slid into the bed next to her.

"Car ride didn't go so well then?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Okay, well do you want to talk about the fact that now 3 of the crew have seen Lia, it's getting to hard Kate…"

Kate flung the face washer off her face and sat up.

"So what do we do?"

Dylan rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I'll message Commander White..."

Dylan took out his phone and started to compose a message.

"Hi Commander, sorry to message you after hours but Kate and I would like to talk to you about our situation."

Kate peered over his shoulder reading the message, Dylan looked at her for confirmation to send it, she gave him a slight nod. He pushed the send button and they both stared at the screen waiting for a reply, 3 grey dots appeared on the screen.

"Can we meet tomorrow at Navcom, 0800?"

Dylan replied with a thumbs up emoji and sighed.

"Do you think she'll agree?"

Kate rubbed her head and closed her eyes.

"I hope so..."

She turned over and pulled the covers over her, Dylan lay there next to her staring at her back, he was still concerned about her.

In the early hours of the morning Kate awoke to the sound of her phone ringing, she pat the night stand blindly feeling for her phone. Opening one eye to find the answer button she groaned as she saw Mike's number.

"Hello?"

"Ah, sorry to wake you, but we've been crash sailed. We need to sail in 2 hours..."

"Okay."

She hung up the phone and rolled over and expected Dylan to be lying next to her, but the space was empty. She lay there for a moment trying to wake herself up, she and rose from the bed and wrapped her dressing gown around her and went looking for him. She found him laying in Lia's bed curled up around her with his arm hanging over the edge of the bed with a book on the floor.

She leaned her body against the door frame and smiled, she knew she had been to hard on him earlier, he had always been protective of her but she had always wanted to stand on her own, being a woman in the navy was hard enough without her tough guy partner protecting her.

She tapped Dylan on the shoulder trying to wake him gently.

"Dylan, we've been crash sailed..."

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips.

"Dylan..."

He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Did you sleep okay?"

She nodded, he carefully slid himself out of Lia's bed and followed Kate back to their room.

"I guess our meeting with Maxine will have to wait."

Kate smirked and grabbed his hand.

"In the mean time, I have scheduled another meeting..."

Dylan tilted his head puzzled, Kate pulled him towards the bathroom and glanced back him with a mischievous grin.

"It's right now, and in the shower!"

A large grin came over his face and he followed her enthusiastically.

"Yes, Boss..."

They boarded The Hammersley and headed for their respective cabins,

Mike popped his head out of his cabin startling them both.

"Morning!"

Kate continued to her cabin without a greeting, Dylan frowned at Kate's lack of friendliness, he turned back in Mike's direction.

"Morning!"

"Did you two come together?"

"Ah, yeah, I basically live next door so easier to car pool... so um, anyway what's happening for us to be sailing?"

"Ah, HMAS Glenelg has has some mechanical issues and is dead in the water, we need bring their crew back and we're transporting a maintenance crew out there. They're not far out so should be back before school is done."

"No worries... well, I better get settled in."

Dylan chucked his bag into his cabin and headed for Kate's cabin and knocked on the door.

"Kate, are you in there?"

Kate cautiously opened the door looking annoyed.

"What?"

Dylan was taken aback with her abruptness, he thought that they were all good, she realised she was being short and shook her head.

"Sorry... what's up?"

He barged his way through and closed the door.

"Kate, what is going on with you?"

There was too much going on, and she couldn't discuss it on board, she had to think of another reason.

"I, I'm having second thoughts about talking to Maxine..."

Dylan stepped closer and rubbed his hand up and down her arm.

"I thought we agreed..."

"Yeah, I know but..."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, they immediately stepped a part and Kate opened the door, it was Mike.

"Sir..."

Mike was startled to see Dylan in her cabin.

"Oh, umm, X, I just needed a word..."

Dylan gave them a nod and left the cabin.

"Sir?"

Mike closed the door behind him and sat at Kate's desk and swiveled the chair in her direction.

"So, where's Lia?"

Kate sat on her rack wondering if she had heard him right, why would he be talking bout Lia?

"Ah, she's at before school care, what's that got to do with..."

Dylan stood on the other side of the door trying to listen to their conversation.

Mike picked up the pen that was sitting on her desk and spun it around in his hand.

"She's a cute little thing, looks just like you..."

Kate's eyes darted around the room, she didn't know why he was making casual chit chat.

"Ah, thanks…"

She wondered whether this was Mike's attempt at being friendly, trying to move on, they both had children so it was something they had in common, she decided to go long with it.

"So umm, you said you had a son?"

Mike nodded and took out a photo from his wallet, Kate smiled as she studied the boys face, it was what she imagined Mike looked like at that age.

"He's 14, a great age!"

Kate scoffed, he had to be joking.

"Yeah, sure. So, why didn't you tell me you had a son..."

Mike quickly shoved the photo back in to his wallet and fidgeted on the chair.

"Well, it was complicated..."

Mike didn't really know how to explain his situation when the only thing he could think about was Kate's situation. He knew this was the worst possible timing and it wasn't appropriate ship talk but he had to know. He planted his feet on the floor and slid the chair closer to her her and lowered his voice.

"So Lia, how old is she?"

Kate paused for a moment still not expecting more questions about Lia.

"Ah, she, she's 6."

He glanced up at her, his eyes staring into her, it was silent. Kate was the first to look away, she wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. On the other side of the door Dylan scrunched up his face, he couldn't make out exactly what they were saying but he heard Lia's name being mentioned, he leaned in closer.

Mike took a deep breath in and placed his hand on her arm.

"Kate..."

She flinched from his touch, he squeezed her arm a little harder, she looked up and met his eyes once again realising what he was asking. She jumped up from her rack headed for the door.

"No..."

Her hand reached for the handle but Mike stepped in front of her and stopped her from opening it.

"No?"

He maneuvered his head so she couldn't avoid his glare, she immediately looked away.

"I don't know..."

Dylan heard the latch unlock and ran to the nearest empty room. Kate headed to the galley where Charge was making a brew.

"Oh, Ma'am, would you like one?"

She took a few deep breaths in and stepped close to him but avoided eye contact.

"Do you have a secret stash?"

Charge titled his head confused, he wasn't sure what she was implying.

"Ma'am?"

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Chocolate, Charge..."

Charge couldn't help but think it was a trick, Kate crossed her arms over her chest, he could see that she wasn't playing.

"Yes, Ma'am, do you have a preference?"

"Milk, not dark..."

Charge gave her nod and ran off to his cabin.

Kate exhaled sharply and leaned against the cupboard with her head in her hands.

Dylan sat in his cabin wondering whether he should confront Kate, he didn't even know what he heard but something strange was going on. He took a few deep breaths in and decided to leave it, for now, he didn't want to make another scene on board.

2 hours later Kate, Dylan and Mike had managed to avoid being in each others presence alone, Mike was in his cabin, Dylan was out on deck conducting drills and Kate was in command on the bridge. She spotted HMAS Glenelg over the horizon, before she could instruct RO to call them a female voice came over the radio

"HMAS Hammersley, this is HMAS Glenelg do you copy, over?"

Kate walked to the comm centre and picked up the radio.

"This is HMAS Hammersley, receiving, over..."

There was a silence for a moment then the crackle of the radio.

"P-Mac, is that you? Over."

Kate scrunched her face a little and took a moment, only one person had ever called her that, she raised the radio still unsure.

"N-Dog?"

Kate heard a laugh over the radio and rolled her eyes.

"No way! What's it been? 5 years? Of course you had to come save my bacon!"

The crew on the bridge looked at each other completely mystified about the communication between the XOs, 2Dad nudged Charge.

"P-mac?"

Dutchy overheard and stepped towards them.

"Princess McGregor…"

Dutchy cringed, why did he keep doing that? 2Dads whacked him on the arm.

"Wait, how do you know? And why is okay for Glenelg's X to call her that?"

Dylan kicked himself, he walked off pretending not to have heard 2Dads' question. Kate watched as Dylan practically ran from the bridge and frowned.

"P-Mac? You there? Over?"

Kate blinked a few times bringing her back.

"Well, were pretty even now, huh? I'll be there in a few, over..."

Kate replaced the radio and turned to RO.

"Let the Captain know when we anchor I'll take one RHIB and Dutchy can take the other to retrieve the Glenelg crew."

RO gave her a single nod.

"Aye, Ma'am..."

Kate calmly walked down the stairs and knocked on Dylan's cabin door. He sheepishly opened the door hoping that he hadn't heard what he told Charge and 2Dads. Kate entered the cabin closing the door behind her.

"We have a problem..."

Dylan stayed silent waiting for her explanation, Kate placed her hands on her hips wondering why he wasn't as worried as her.

"Nikki, she could blow everything..."

Dylan took a moment to register what Kate was saying.

"Oh..."

Kate was frustrated by Dylan's lack of panic, she stomped her foot on the floor.

"Dylan!"

He stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, he thought that they had moved on from the previous argument.

"Just relax…"

Kate threw her hands in the air out of frustration.

"Okay, what do you want to do then?"

"Well, I've said that you and I will each take a RHIB over there, so we can talk to her first."

Dylan opened his door and walked into the corridor, Kate stood in his room shaking her head. He poked his head back into the room.

"We going?"

Kate let out a frustrated huff and pushed past him.

End of Chapter 5.

xx


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone!

2 chapters in 2 days, my mind is over flowing with drama so here we are!

Thanks to everyone who has left feedback! Love you all!

Love at First Lie

Chapter 6

Kate and Dylan made their way to HMAS Glenelg, they climbed the rope ladders to the upper deck. XO, Nikki Caetano was waiting excitedly on deck, she jumped up and down as she saw the top of Kate's head over the railing, she pulled Kate in for a hug as soon as her feet hit the deck.

"Omg, I can't believe it's you!"

2Dads and Charge watched through binoculars from the Hammersley bridge at their interaction, 2Dads passed Charge the binoculars as he laughed.

"Well, what do you know, she can be friendly..."

Swain walked up behind 2Dads and whacked him across the head.

"Don't be like that, you gotta admit that it's easier to come on to this ship as one of the boys! Give her a break!"

2Dads rolled his eyes as Charge refocused the binoculars.

Nikki caught a glimpse of Dylan coming up the ladder and squealed with joy.

"Dylan?! What!?"

She looked between them completely confused.

"You're on the same ship? How did that happen? Don't tell me that means you guys aren't together anymore?"

Kate shook her head and started to walk down below.

"That's why were here, alone, we gotta talk..."

Nikki wrapped her arm around Kate's shoulder as they walked inside.

"I can't wait to hear this!"

Kate, Nikki and Dylan sat in the senior sailors mess with a brew. Nikki's mouth remained open as Kate and Dylan explained their situation . She let out a laugh and took a sip of her brew.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that, I just don't know how you're gonna be able to keep it a secret!"

"It's hard, but we need you to help! You can't say anything!"

Nikki pretended to lock her lips together and grabbed both of their hands.

"Promise! It's just so good to see you guys, and how's Lia? What is she now? 6?"

Kate nodded and took out her phone to show Nikki pictures, she squealed with delight.

"Oh my god, she's the cutest, but how do they not see she's your kid? Kate she had your eyes and your nose, Dylan..."

"Well, only 3 of the crew have met her, but it's so complicated..."

Dylan didn't really want to talk about it, the conversation between Kate and Mike was still swirling around in his head.

"So, you guys are being towed back to Cairns, you wanna crash with us?"

Nikki slammed her hand on the table excitedly.

"Yes! It'll be just like old times in ADFA!"

Kate gave her a disapproving look.

"Yeah, with less booze..."

They made their way back to Hammersley, 2Dads approached them as they stepped out of the RHIB, he put his hand out to help Nikki down from the ladder and smiled.

"Ma'am..."

She obliged and placed her hand in his.

"Thanks, sailor…"

He felt a large hand grip on his shoulder, he turned and was confronted by Dylan.

"In your dreams mate..."

Nikki and Kate walked off laughing, 2Dads frowned and gave Dylan an innocent look.

"What?"

Dylan gave him a friendly shove.

"Don't 'what' me! You've got no chance!"

Back at home port Dylan, Kate and Nikki disembarked the boat, 2Dads ran out on deck and called out after them.

"You guys coming to the pub?"

They all looked at each other, Kate shook her head.

"Nah, don't have a sitter... plus Nikki's pretty tired... right Nik?"

Nikki waived and smiled back at him.

"Oh yeah, maybe tomorrow night if I'm still here?"

Charge laughed and patted 2Dads on the back.

"Nice try…"

They walked through their front door and chucked their bags in the laundry, Nikki walked around their house and nodded with approval.

"Wow, you guys got a good deal!"

Dylan threw himself onto the couch and kicked off his shoes.

"What can I say, we're the Navy dream team!"

Kate and Nikki scoffed and sat down on the other couch, Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Don't listen to him!"

Nikki playfully whacked her on on the arm.

"I still can't believe this! So, no one has any idea?"

Kate and Dylan look at each other and shrugged.

"We don't think so! But it's getting harder and harder."

Nikki looked around the house.

"So where's Lia?! I want to grab her little chubby cherub cheeks!"

Dylan laughed and got up and grabbed his keys.

"Knew we forgot something! Nah, she's at school, I'll go grab her now."

Dylan kissed Kate on the forehead and headed out the door, Nikki waited for the door to close and whacked Kate on the shoulder.

"And tell me why you're not married to him?!"

Kate laughed nervously and shrugged.

"I just don't feel like I have to be married?!

Nikki raised and eyebrow not quite believing her.

"Right..."

There was a knock on the door, Kate frowned unsure of who it could be. She opened the door and was shocked to see Mike.

"Ah, Commander Flynn, Ah, what can I do for you?"

Nikki stood up to see who was at the door, Mike noticed her in the background and lowered his voice.

"Oh, sorry didn't realise you had company..."

"Ah, yeah..."

He leaned in closer hoping Nikki couldn't hear.

"Kate, we need to talk."

She glanced back at Nikki and closed the door trying to block her view.

"Well, I can't now, and Lia is due home any minute, so..."

Mike tried to poke his head in further, Kate moved her body in front of his view.

"Where's your partner, I haven't met him yet..."

"Ah, he's picking her up, so maybe next time..."

Kate went to shut the door, Mike put his foot in the door stopping her.

"Can we talk later?"

She refused to look him in the eye and push on the door.

"Maybe..."

Mike removed his foot and she closed to the door and sat back on the couch, she could feel Nikki's eyes burn into her, she met her eyes for a split second.

"What?"

"Your Commander makes house calls?"

Kate shifted comfortably in her seat.

"Yeah, apparently..."

"What did he want?"

Kate grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

"Don't worry about it..."

Nikki shook her head and snatched the remote out of her hand and turned it off.

"Kate McGregor, I may not have seen you for a few years but I've know you long enough to know something is up..."

Kate sighed and got up and grabbed a bottle of wine and 2 glasses. She plonked herself back on the couch, Nikki's eyes widened.

"I thought you said there was gonna be less booze..."

Kate poured a large glass and handed it to Nikki, she bit her bottom lip trying to strike up the courage to tell her everything. She had told Nikki about the guy who left her high and dry but had never told her his name or that it was at Watson's bay. She also hadn't disclosed that it unfolded the same week that she had met Dylan but the stress of the past week had got to her and she needed to talk to someone.

She had known Nikki since ADFA, they started off as rivals but ended up bonding being the only girls in their year to be at the top of their class. They had become great friends, they always emailed and messaged but hadn't caught up for years due to postings in different states but Kate could always rely on her to be honest and she knew she could trust her.

Nikki sat there sipping in anticipation and Kate lifted the glass to her lips and took a large gulp and placed her glass on the coffee table.

"Mike was the guy who left me the note..."

Nikki nearly choked on he mouthful, she wiped her bottom lip catching a few drops.

"He was the guy that, and now he's, I mean, you're..."

Kate nodded placed her hand on Nikki's arm trying to get her to focus.

"Yeah..."

Nikki took another large sip of her wine and swallowed it.

"Oh, that suuucks! So, he doesn't know about you and Dylan right?"

Kate shook her head slightly.

"And Dylan doesn't know about Mike?"

Nikki could see how distressed Kate was, she reached out and placed a hand on her knee trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh Kate, what happen to being the good one?"

Kate let out a laugh and rubbed her hands over her face, she didn't know if she was ready to say the next bit out loud.

"I think, I think he's also done the maths... I think that's what he wants to talk to me about..."

Nikki tilted her head confused and put her glass down hearing Kate's serious tone.

"Maths?"

"We met at Watson's…"

"What? The same week you met Dylan?"

Before Kate could answer the front door swung open and Lia came bouncing in.

"Mummy!"

She jumped into Kate's lap and gave her a hug, Nikki's eyes widened as she realised she was talking about Lia. Kate gave Lia a kiss and sat her on her knee.

"Did you have a good day at school?"

She nodded and glanced over at Nikki and smiled at her.

"Hi..."

Nikki snapped back to reality and put on a large smile.

"Hi, you probably don't remember me but I'm you Auntie Nikki..."

She scrunched is her face trying to think and shook her head.

"Nope..."

Nikki laughed at her adorable face.

"It's okay, your mummy and I used to go to ADFA together..."

Lia's eyes lit up.

"Oh, are you on the boats too?"

Nikki nodded and pointed to her insignia.

"Yeah, I'm an XO like your Mummy…"

"That's so cool! I wanna be a Captain!"

Dylan walked over to them and kissed Kate on the forehead.

"Barbie for dinner?"

Kate nodded still trying to comprehend what she had said out loud to her friend. Dylan walked into the kitchen to get things ready. Kate gave Lia another squeeze.

"Why don't you go and put your things away, okay? Maybe you can help Daddy?"

Lia nodded and grabbed her bag and skipped into her room.

Nikki picked up her glass and took a mouthful and stared at Kate, she could see it was possible that she would lose it at any minute. She put her glass down and grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her towards the door and called out to Dylan.

"Hey, we're just going to the shops, need anything?"

Dylan popped his head around the door frame.

"Ah, what for?!"

Nikki flashed a smile.

"More wine…"

Dylan rolled his eyes and continued to gather things for BBQ. She smiled and shoved Kate out the door and into the car and started the engine and started to drive.

"Where are we going?"

"If you're trying to tell me what I think you are, we are getting away from sensitive ears."

Kate turned away from Nikki and stared out the window, Nikki sighed, she didn't really want to say it but she knew Kate probably wouldn't.

"Okay, so are you trying to tell me that Mike is Lia's father?"

Kate sat there in silence wishing that she had the answer, tears ran down her cheeks, she couldn't say it. Nikki glanced over to her too see if she had heard and placed a hand on her arm for comfort.

"Kate..."

She turned her head slightly not quite making eye contact.

"I...I don't know..."

Kate burst into tears, she felt like the most terrible person in the world. Nikki pulled over immediately and tried to console her.

"Oh Kate, how have you carried this around with you..."

"I don't know..."

Nikki sat there not sure what to say, she couldn't fix this.

"Have you ever tried to tell him that Lia might not be his?"

Kate closed her eyes as tears over flowed and rolled down her cheeks.

"Kinda of, I mean when I first told him I was pregnant didn't think he was going to react the way he did, I thought it might scared him off but it didn't, he was excited. There was, is a chance that she's his and I couldn't ruin that moment with a chance that it wasn't true. I even tried to push him away, I just didn't know what to do, Nik. I even considered not having it, having her, I can't believe I'm even saying that because I love her more than life itself. He's the best father, I wouldn't ever want to go back in time and change that, and as far as I'm concerned Dylan will always be her dad."

Nikki felt for Kate, but this was serious, too serious to be swept under the rug and for her to pretend that it didn't happen. She sighed a pulled Kate in close, Kate closed her eyes trying to think of a solution.

_Flashback_

_Kate sat in the cold office and glanced around the room, there were various models and posters displaying pictures she couldn't even begin to comprehend. The doctor entered the office and opened the folder sitting on top of the pile. _

_"Congratulations, you're pregnant..."_

_Kate's first reaction was to be horrified, the doctor noticed her uneasy expression. _

_"Ah, not planned I take it?"_

_She could only manage the slightest shake of her head._

_"Well, there are options..."_

_She shook her head again. _

_"It's just, I'm in the Navy, I'm about to go back out on the frigates..."_

_"Well, I guess you'll need to talk to your bosses, I mean there's a lot of risks involved in your job...look, I'll give you some material to take home and look over. You have a couple weeks if you decide to..."_

_Kate nodded and took the pamphlets that he placed in front of her. She walked back to her car in a daze, what was she going to do? This wasn't in her plan. She got in her car and leaned her head on the steering wheel and burst into tears. _

_She sat in her drive way trying to compose herself and figure out what she would do, she glanced over to the pile of pamphlets sitting on the passenger seat and sighed. _

_She wasn't really sure where her and Dylan were at, she insisted that they weren't a couple, her trust had been at an all time low when they met and it was just easier to protect herself. But this made things serious, she always intended to have a family but not like this. She wanted the fantasy life that you were told as a child, you have a career, you meet a man and you fall completely in love, you get married then start a family. They had only been "seeing" each other for 6 weeks, it was crazy to think that it would work. She liked him, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to give her whole heart to someone._

_She gathered up the pamphlets and exited her car, she unlocked the front door and was startled to see Dylan standing in her kitchen. She dropped her phone and the pamphlets from her hand as she clutched her chest from shock._

_"Dylan, you scared me!"_

_He laughed has he walked over to her. _

_"Sorry! You said you weren't feeling well so I came over to make you dinner..."_

_He gave her a kiss on the cheek, she stood there for a second smiling at him, he was a good guy, she hated that she couldn't just be happy. He bent down to gather up the things she had dropped, he went to hand them back to her but caught a glimpse of the pamphlets. She went to snatch them from his hand seeing his expression but he pulled them away. _

_"Kate, what is this?"_

_She closed her eyes, he didn't sound happy, this wasn't the way she wanted to break the news. She walked over to the couch, Dylan followed and sat cautiously beside her. _

_"Dylan, I'm..."_

_She glanced up at him, she stopped and titled her head expecting to see darkness but instead she was surprised to see a giant smile plastered over his face. He lunged towards her and he squeezed her tight, she sat there in his embrace stunned by his reaction. _

_"Kate, I know this is way to soon but, that's amazing!"_

_They parted and he sat there holding her hands. _

_"Kate, I know we've only been seeing each other for 6 weeks but, I love you..."_

_Kate swallowed hard, she wasn't expecting him to declare his love for her or be excited about a baby._

_"The first night we met in Watson's Bay I knew that you were special, did you feel it too?"_

_She looked down at their intertwined hands, she couldn't destroy that image in his head. All she felt that night was pain, but she had to admit that he did make her feel better, but it also might have been the 20 vodkas she had. _

_"Kate, we can do this..."_

_He hugged her again, she was glad he couldn't see her face because her expression would have given away her terror. She did really like him, it surprised her. At first she pegged him as a cocky pretty boy but he was sensitive, kind and apparently loved her. It's not that she didn't love him back but she didn't really know what love was supposed to feel like. _

_She removed herself form his embrace and looked up into his eyes._

_"Dylan, I need to explain…"_

_She stopped mid sentence as he placed his hand on her stomach and his smiled widened, he looked so happy._

_"Kate, you make me so incredibly happy, and now, I, I can't describe this feeling…"_

_Kate felt nauseous, she wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy or her nerves, he rubbed her belly looking like he'd just won the lottery._

_"What did you need to explain?"_

_She put on a smile and place her hand on his._

_"Never mind…"_

_The next morning Kate awoke in his arms, she lay there staring at the ceiling, she felt so guilty, she wiped the single tear that ran down the side of her face. She got up from the bed and wrapped her dressing gown around her and headed down stairs. _

_She turned on the kettle and leaned on the bench deep in thought, she didn't hear Dylan come down the stairs, he wrapped his arms around her startling her. _

_"Morning, Mummy..."_

_She closed her eyes still facing the bench and took a deep breath in and turned to face him._

_"Morning..."_

_She couldn't look him in the eye, he frowned noticing her strange behaviour._

_"Everything okay?"_

_She exhaled sharply and glanced down at the floor._

_"I'm not sure I can do this..."_

_"Oh, you're not feeling well, I can make the coffee if you want?"_

_He reached over her head and opened the cupboard and grabbed 2 mugs._

_"Hang on, should you be having coffee?"_

_She placed her hands on his and paced the coffee cups down._

_"Dylan, I just... I don't know if I'm ready for all of this."_

_His heart sank as he realised what she was implying, he desperately gripped her hands._

_"Kate, I know this is a lot, but you need to know that I'm all in, I'm not going anywhere."_

_"I know Dylan, it's me, I don't know if I am..."_

_He stepped back from her a little trying not to feel offended._

_"Okay, but Kate, it's not like we can go back, I mean, you're pregnant."_

_Kate broke eye contact, she was always of the opinion of having a choice but she didn't need someone to make her feel bad about her decision. _

_Dylan could tell from her body language what she was taking about._

_"I'm, I'm sorry, I just assumed... but I mean, can't we talk about this?"_

_"I just need some space... I think you should go?"_

_She didn't mean to get defensive, she knew he was asking because he cared about her and he seemed to be excited about the prospect of a child but she couldn't help it. _

_Dylan was taken aback by her tone, he didn't understand where this was coming from. _

_"Kate, I just want to talk..."_

_She shook her head, she didn't want to talk, she didn't even know what she would say. She walked to the door and opened it, Dylan stood his ground in the kitchen._

_"Kate, I'm in my pyjamas..."_

_She let out a huff and closed the door, she stormed up the stairs and into the bedroom. He followed her determined to talk, he stood in the doorway as he watched her shove his clothes into his bag._

_"Kate, what has gotten into you?"_

_She spun round furious at his choice of words._

_"What's that supposed to mean?"_

_He walked up to her and grabbed her arm stopping her._

_"I know this is a big decision, I know this means things get serious, but what's wrong with that?"_

_Kate stood there for a moment contemplating his words. She knew he was a good person, well as much as you could know in 8 weeks but there was something else, or someone else. _

_"It's too much, Dylan?!"_

_"Why? Do you not want someone in your life that loves you? Do you not want a family?"_

_She did want those things, she let out a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed._

_"I just, I need some time to think... this is a lot, we're not even official..."_

_He let out a laugh trying to lighten the mood._

_"Yeah, because you won't let me call you my girlfriend."_

_She let out a scoff._

_"I'm too old to be someone's girlfriend..."_

_Dylan sat next to her and turned her face to face his._

_"Kate, do you believe at love at first sight?"_

_Kate rolled her eyes, of course she didn't, she was a realist. _

_"Don't be ridiculous ..."_

_"Well, I do..."_

_He leaned in to kiss her but she pulled away and stood out of his reach, she wrapped her arms around herself._

_"Dylan, please don't make this harder... can you just give me a couple of days?"_

_Dylan sighed and shoved the last of his belongings into his bag, he snatched it off the bed and headed for the door. He turned before leaving._

_"I wasn't lying when I said I was a good guy Kate, don't be scared, you'll only end up hurting yourself."_

_He walked down the stairs, she heard the front door slam and burst into tears. _

_End of Flashback._

End of Chapter 6.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay peeps,

cos you're all so great at leaving reviews here's a longer chapter!

Love at First Lie

Chapter 7

Kate sat there squeezing Nikki's hand staring into space, Nikki wasn't sure if questions were going to help but she needed Kate to start thinking of some answers, for her own sake.

"Kate, how has this never come up, I mean, I love you, I would defend you to the end of the earth but…"

Kate un-clicked her seatbelt and jumped out of the car, she couldn't breathe, she felt trapped, Nikki immediately stopped the car and followed.

"Sorry, I just needed some air…"

Kate stood on the median strip looking lost, she couldn't believe that she had just pretended it wasn't an issue for so long. She turned towards Nikki and let out a nervous laugh.

"Do you remember me calling you when I found out?"

Nikki nodded and stepped towards her.

"Yeah, I remember I missed your 11 pone calls and then there was just a message, 'Get over here now…"

"I was going to tell you everything, but I chickened out, I felt like the worst person in the world."

_Flashback_

_30 minutes after Dylan had left there was a knock on Kate's front door. She ran down the stairs and swung it open, standing on her front step was a very confused looking Nikki. Kate flung her arms around her as tears poured down her cheeks, Nikki hugged her back worried about Kate's tears._

_"Ah, hi!"_

_Kate stepped back and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve. _

_"Hey."_

_Nikki grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her towards the couch and sat._

_"What an earth going on?"_

_Kate sat there, head down, staring at her lap. Her mind was all over the place, she didn't know how she was going to tell Nikki her news. This was supposed to be exciting, good news, but instead it made her feel sick. Nikki grabbed Kate's arm, the silence was killing her._

_"Kate, you're scaring me…"_

_Kate slowly brought her eyes to meet Nikki's, she swallowed and rubbed her lips together trying see if her mouth would work._

_"Dylan said he loved me..."_

_Nikki's eyes widened and a smiled crossed her face, she threw a cushion at her expecting it to be bad news._

_"What? God, Kate, I thought you were going to tell me something happened to him! I mean, it's only been like 6 weeks or something? But, that's wonderful, isn't it?"_

_Kate looked up at her friend with a less than enthusiastic look._

_"Well, seeing each other for 6, I've known him for 8…"_

_Nikki laughed, Kate was always so precise._

_"Either way its not very long? But super romantic?"_

_Kate continued to focus on her lap, none of this felt romantic, far from the fairytale that she thought that Nikki was forming in her head._

_"Well, not after you hear that it was technically after I told him, actually, he guessed, that I was pregnant."_

_Nikki let out an excited squeal and threw herself at Kate and hugged her._

_"I'm going to be an Aunt?"_

_Kate nodded and ran her hands through her tangled hair._

_"I just don't know if this is what I want."_

_Nikki scrunched up her face not understanding, she knew Kate wanted a family._

_"What do you mean? We've talked about this before, I thought..."_

_"Yeah, I know, I think it's more that I don't know how to feel..."_

_"Kate, why are you second guessing this?"_

_Kate let out a sigh, she was going to have to explain._

_"I met someone before Dylan..."_

_Nikki tilted her head not understanding. _

_"When? You never told me about anyone else."_

_"I spent the week with him. We were, I dunno, we just clicked but I woke up one morning and he was gone."_

_Nikki didn't know why Kate cared so much, he sounded like a jerk for doing this to her._

_"What a dick! Why would you want to be with someone like that."_

_"I don't, but, I just don't understand..."_

_Nikki let out a laugh._

_"Yeah, that'd be right, it's the not knowing that makes you so frustrated. Kate, don't put all this energy into someone that's clearly not good enough for you. Look, I'm your friend and I love you but you tend to self sabotage. I mean there's this gorgeous guy who loves you and excited to start a family with you and you're pushing him away? Why?"_

_"I dunno..."_

_Kate broke eye contact, she did know why but didn't know how to tell her friend. Nikki wrapped an arm around her and sighed._

_"Kate, you don't need to be Chief of Navy to prove to everyone you're the best."_

_Kate let out an offended scoff and moved away._

_"Nik, it has nothing to do with work!"_

_Nikki rolled her eyes and stood up above her and placed her hands on her hips._

_"Kate McGregor, we have been friends for over 10 years, I know you, it has got everything to do with work! I know you don't think you can have it all but you can. You are Kate McGregor, I know you want a family, there's no reason you can't go back out there."_

_Kate focused on the floor, Nikki sat back down beside her._

_"I just don't think that I'm ready, Nik..."_

_Nikki exhaled loudly and grabbed Kate's hands._

_"Well, you have a choice to make then..."_

_End of Flashback_

Nikki placed a hand on Kate's shoulder and opened the car door.

"Man, I never put 2 and 2 together, I was just so excited to be an Auntie! Maybe you should go speak to him?"

Kate lowered herself into the passengers seat and looked up at Nikki.

"I don't know if I'd be able to bring myself to tell him!"

Nikki exhaled sharply, she didn't mean Dylan, she walked around to the other side of the car and got in.

"I actually meant Mike, I mean isn't he the one who's potentially going to cause you trouble?"

"What, and tell him everything?"

"Do you have a choice? I can come with you if you want, or just sit in the car..."

Kate wiped the tears running down her cheeks, she knew that Nikki was right but she knew once she confronted Mike it could bring her whole world crashing down. Nikki watched Kate and knew that her mind was working overtime, she squeezed her hand in support.

"No matter what, I'm here, you know that right?"

Kate nodded and got out her phone and dialled NAVCOM's number.

"Yes, this is Lieutenant Kate McGregor, I need to get a hold of Commander Flynn, thanks..."

Kate waited while they confirmed her details and found his number.

She wrote his number down and stared at it for a moment, she wasn't ready for their life to blow up. She glanced over at Nikki who gave her an uneasy smile.

"You're doing the right thing, Kate..."

Kate gave her a slight nod and took a deep breath in and dialled the number, her heart raced as it rang, she cringed as it answered.

"Mike Flynn..."

Suddenly all words were lost on her, she placed the phone on her chest and tried to steady her breathing.

"Hello?"

She closed her eyes and placed the phone back at her ear.

"Ah hi..."

Kate voice was croaky, she cleared her throat trying to sound put together.

"Hi, it's Kate, are you free to talk?"

"Ah yeah, come round... I'll text you my address."

Kate hung up the phone and hung her head, Nikki sighed as she started the car.

"You be alright, Dylan loves you, Lia loves you..."

"I know they love me, but will they ever forgive me?"

Kate's phone beeped and she typed the address into the cars GPS system.

They pulled up out the front of Mike's house, she tilted her head not expecting his house to look the way it did. It was a large double story town house, quite modern looking with a very well maintained garden. She took a deep breath in and smiled at Nikki.

"Thanks for this..."

She gave he a nod.

"I'll be right out here..."

Kate walked up the front path and stood at the front door, she lifted her hand to knock but hesitated. She closed her eyes and stepped back from the door, she jumped as it opened and was faced with Mike.

"Ah, hi, I heard the car door..."

Kate couldn't find her voice once again, she just stood there staring at him.

"Ah, you want to come in?"

She could only manage a nod. Nikki sat in the car and watched her enter his house, she held her breath until the front door closed.

"Good luck..."

Kate wandered around Mike's living room taking in the style of the house, surely it was all his wife, it looked nothing like "him".

She was brought back to reality by the sound of his voice.

"You want a brew or anything?"

Kate shook her head still not saying a word and sat down on the couch.

Mike sat down next to her making sure he wasn't so close that he was going to make her feel uncomfortable.

"So, umm, the thing I was talking about earlier..."

Kate frowned, the rage suddenly returned, was he really calling Lia a thing?

"Ah, my daughter?"

"Umm, yeah. Look Kate, from the way you were acting..."

Kate felt her anger rise, she had spent a week with this man, having dinner and intimate conversations, she felt like she had found someone she could connect with and then he just left, she wasn't going to let him make her feel like the bad guy.

"Why did you leave?"

Mike froze, her tone had changed. He was happy to explain before, but he didn't know why it didn't feel right to do it now.

"Ah..."

Kate was no longer speechless, the feeling that she felt when she woke up alone that morning had resurfaced, and now she was livid.

"You've got to be some kind of heartless bastard to do that to someone, did you do it a lot? Play with someone's feelings, I mean, how are you married?"

Kate sat there steel eyed staring right though him, Mike was taken a back by her anger.

"I, umm, I'm sorry..."

She sat back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, sorry, you've said that..."

She shook her head and looked around the room, why was she even going along with this, why was she giving him the time of day?

Mike reached out and placed a hand on her knee trying to calm her, she wasn't expect his touch and moved away.

"So, is she?"

Kate frowned and turned towards him.

"Is who, what?"

Mike sighed and exhaled loudly, this was not going well.

"Is Lia my daughter?"

Kate locked eyes with him, his sympathetic look made her more angry, she could have exploded.

"You know what, I don't even know why I'm here! She will never be your daughter, Mike, Dylan has been the best father and..."

Kate cursed herself as she watched Mike's jaw drop.

"Dylan... as in Dutchy? you're with Petty Officer Mulholland?"

Kate knew there was no back tracking but the lie still left her mouth.

"Ah, no..."

Mike scoffed, he knew she was lying, he shook his head disapprovingly.

"Kate, haven't we lied enough?"

She frowned and stood from the couch and started to pace.

"Lied? What did I lie about? Or rather what did you lie about?"

Mike stood in front of her stopping her, trying to keep his cool.

"You lied about Lia.."

She stepped closer challenging him.

"How did I lie?"

"Kate, she's my daughter, you kept that from me!"

Kate let out a frustrated growl.

"She's not your daughter, and I didn't keep that from you, you abandoned me!"

"So you've had a test? You've got proof?"

Kate hesitated, Mike could see the panic in her eyes.

"So, there is a chance? Damn it, Kate..."

He walked away from her rubbing his hands over his face. There was a pause in the conversation, Kate let out a huff, she wasn't taking the heat for everything.

"So, tell me, what about me was so awful that you couldn't even tell me goodbye?"

Mike hesitated, it wasn't her, it was him. He didn't know if telling her now was really going to help. She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow waiting for his sob story.

"Well?"

Mike couldn't look her in the eye, is was his turn to start pacing.

"It wasn't you, it was..."

She scoffed and let out a laugh, she walked around and stood in front of him.

"Seriously Flynn, are you seriously using the, its not you, it's me, line?"

He knew it was such a cliche but it was the truth.

"Kate, I, I was going through something..."

"Oh, so you just used me then?"

"No, I mean, I didn't mean to... I, I..."

Mike sat back on the couch and placed his head in his hands.

"I had just found out that my son, was my son, Ryan..."

Kate couldn't help but gasp, she was annoyed, but she had to have some empathy, their current situation was nearly identical.

"He had been living with his step dad, well, he didn't know it was his step dad and he wanted to come live with his mum. I knew she had a child but..."

"Okay, so... I was just an outlet?"

"No..."

Mike reached out her, but she stepped back.

"Kate, you were wonderful, I had such a good time with you, it scared me but..."

"But, what..."

"But, I was, was still with Ryan's mother..."

Kate stood there staring at him, trying to work though the information.

"Hang on, so not only did you use me, you cheated on your wife?"

Kate heard her phone beep, she ignored it and grabbed her bag, she was disgusted, how could she have fallen for someone so despicable. Mike grabbed her arm stopping her from storming out.

"Hey, you're not completely innocent in all of this, what you have done is worse."

Kate clenched her fists by her side and spun round.

"What? Strangely enough you have already been through this and you managed to forgive her because you're still with her, you cheated on your wife, how am I the bad person?"

The locked eyes, Kate's blood was boiling. They were startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They both looked up, Mike faced dropped and Kate looked like she had seen a ghost. Mike released his grip from Kate's arm and approached the door.

"Max... I thought you were working late..."

Kate took the opportunity to check her phone, it was Nikki. "Commander White is walking up the front path?!"

Maxine cautiously walked into the lounge room, she could feel the tension in the air.

"Lieutenant?"

Kate gave her a slight nod but refused to look her in the eye.

"Sorry, Ma'am, I was just leaving."

Kate went for the door, Maxine reached out to stop her.

"Is everything okay, Kate?"

Kate turned to face her completely confused at her presence, she really didn't want to have to explain this to her Commander.

"Ah, yeah…"

As Kate turned back to the door a photo on the mantle caught her eye, she squinted a little trying to focus her eyes. She felt her heartbeat increase, the photo was of Mike, Ryan and Maxine, her stomach dropped, Maxine was his wife.

Maxine glanced behind her to see what had caught Kate's focus, she sighed and turned back to Kate.

"Kate?"

Kate's eyes darted around the room, she couldn't handle this new piece of information.

"I, I have to go..."

Kate raced out of their house and ran to the car, she got in and slammed the door.

"Go..."

Nikki fumbled the keys and started the car.

"What happened?"

"Just drive!"

Nikki pulled away from the curb doing what she was told, she wasn't sure where to go so she headed back to Kate's.

"No..."

Nikki slowed down.

"No?"

"Beach, drive to the beach..."

Nikki nodded and turned around, they pulled up in the car park and Nikki turned off the engine. She turned her body to face Kate waiting for her to explain.

Back at Mike and Maxine's house, Mike sat on the couch and rubbed is hands over his face, Maxine next to him completely mystified about what had just unfolded.

"Mike, what was that all about?"

He got up and grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat back beside her.

"How could you not tell me?"

Maxine had no idea what he was talking about.

"What?"

He took a large swig of his beer and placed it on the table.

"Kate and Dylan..."

Maxine sighed and rubbed her hand over her temple.

"Mike, I'm sorry, it was business, it was better if no one knew. But why would she be talking to you about that? And why was she so upset about it?"

Mike ran his hands through his hair, this was a mess. He had told Maxine what had happened all those years ago and they have moved past it, but like Kate, he never thought that they'd cross paths again.

He didn't know if telling Maxine the person he slept with was Kate would destroy everything that they had rebuilt, and then in term it would also impact Kate and her career. He didn't want to lie but at this stage it was safer, if Lia wasn't his then there was no harm done.

Nikki sat in the car with her jaw on the floor.

"Shit…Do you think he's gonna tell her, like, everything?"

"I don't know.."

Kate jumped as her phone rang, she flipped it over, it was Dylan. She cleared her throat trying to sound normal.

"Hey..."

"Hey babe, you gonna be home soon? Did you get lost or something?"

"Ah, yeah, we umm, we got distracted by K-Mart."

She heard him scoff and imagined him rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds about right! We don't need any more couch cushions."

"I'll be home soon…"

Kate hung up the phone and stared at it.

"I don't need any test to tell me who Lia's father is. We both have lives and have moved on, there doesn't need to be drama."

Nikki couldn't help but laugh, it was like their roles had reversed, Kate was normally the sensible, tell the truth kind of person but she wasn't going to let her run from this.

"I know, Kate, but if Mike is..."

Kate gave her a "don't say it" look, Nikki ignored her glare and continued.

"_If_ he is then, well, doesn't she deserve to know?"

"He left me Nik, just left, not a word, just a note..."

Nikki didn't want to seem like she was taking sides but as Kate's friend she couldn't let her do this.

"Kate, all I'm saying... I mean, just think if she found out in 10 years. And Mike, what if he did something stupid and told Dylan..."

Kate let out a frustrated growl, Nikki wanted to let her think about all the consequences.

"What if you need to know if any diseases run in the family? Kate, I find it very hard to believe that you don't want to know, I mean, it's you!?"

Kate sighed, she had thought about it, a lot, every day of her pregnancy and she had investigated the test.

"A paternity test generally requires both the parties to be present for samples."

"Can't you just send hair in or something?"

She shook her head.

"It's not accurate enough, but now, I guess I can get one done with Mike."

"But you've got to tell Dylan."

"Yeah, of course Nik, I just don't know how."

She was terrified that this would break him, that he would never forgive her. He had been her rock for the past 6 years and was scared, scared that she may have to learn to live life without him.

_Flashback_

_Kate sat at her kitchen table staring at the pamphlets. She sighed and grabbed her phone and opened a new message._

_"Dylan, I'm sorry. I have made an appointment for a termination. I'm just not ready."_

_He immediately sent a reply._

_"I'm not mad, I respect your right to chose but it doesn't mean I have to agree with your decision. Could I please come with you?"_

_She sighed, she was in 2 minds, she didn't want him to try and talk her out of it but she also was thankful for his support._

_"Meet me at 9am at the Cairns Medial Centre."_

_The next morning Kate sat in the car park, she glanced at her watch, she was early, it was only 840. Dylan opened her passenger door causing her to jump._

_"Hi..."_

_She could barley make eye contact, she picked at the stitching of her steering wheel._

_"Hey..."_

_He placed a hand on hers and sighed. _

_"Kate, I just need to hear you say it. Are you sure?"_

_She nodded still not making eye contact. _

_"I don't want to talk you out of it, this is your decision but I want you to know that I didn't say that I loved you because you were pregnant. I do really believe in love at first sight, you are not like any other woman I have met."_

_Kate pulled her hands away, he made everything sound and feel like a Disney movie. When she was with him she felt like everything was going to be alright but she knew it wasn't, she didn't know if she deserved the happiness that he made her feel. This is the reason why she didn't want to see him, she was scared that her feelings would over rule her brain._

_"Kate, please tell me this isn't end?"_

_She turned and opened the car door. _

_"I don't think you should come in..."_

_She couldn't hear anymore, she opened the car door and headed for the clinic. Dylan sat in the car and ran his hands over his face, he so desperately wanted to follow her. His eyes followed her in and the doors closed, he leaned his head back on to the seat as tears overflowed from his eyes._

_Kate sat down in the waiting room in a daze, she was so confused about it all. She wanted to trust her heart, she wanted so desperately to love Dylan and too be happy and to have this family._

_Her train of thought was interrupted by a nurse calling her name, she exhaled loudly and stood up._

_An hour later Dylan was still in her car, he didn't know what to do, he was afraid that if he left he would never see her again. He didn't want to be mad at her, he wanted this but he didn't want to make her feel guilty. He jumped as a woman tapped on the window, he wound it down ever so slightly. _

_"Dylan?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Ah, she's asking for you..."_

_He immediately swung open the door and followed the nurse back into the clinic. She lead him to a room, Kate was sitting in a bed, tears rolled down her cheeks. He couldn't help himself, he ran to the bed and sat beside her and held her tight. She buried her head into his chest and sobbed. _

_"You're still here…"_

_He rubbed her back and kissed her head. _

_"Of course… I love you, Kate. I'm here, what ever you need."_

_She sat up and wiped the tears from her cheeks and attempted to look him in the eye. _

_"I, I couldn't go through with it."_

_He sat there for a moment making sure he heard her correctly. _

_"What?"_

_A smiled came over his face. _

_"So, we're really doing this?"_

_She nodded and he pulled her towards him and kissed her._

_"I guess you're stuck with me then!"_

_The next morning Kate awoke alone in her bed, she glanced over to her clock, it was 11am, she blinked a few times making sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, she never slept in. She glanced down at her tummy and placed her hand over it and smiled. Dylan poked his head in the door._

_"Oh, you're up…"_

_Kate sat up in bed and he climbed in next to her holding a bag, Kate tried to peer in, he quickly made it out of her reach._

_"I couldn't sleep, I went for a run and K-Mart was open, so I just went in and had a look."_

_Kate raised an eyebrow, all the men she knew wouldn't step inside K-mart unless they were dragged by their partner._

_"A look?"_

_Dylan couldn't hold back his grin as he took out a yellow one-sie covered puppy faces from the bag._

_"Look at this! It's so tiny, I can't believe a human fits in one of these!"_

_He placed it on her stomach, she glanced up at him and swore that he was tearing up, he took out another item from the bag._

_"And these, oh, my, god…"_

_It was pair of baby socks, she laughed at his astonishment._

_"Have you never seen baby clothes, Mulholland?"_

_He shrugged and moved the bag away from her._

_"Yeah, it just, everything will be so much cuter on our baby."_

_He placed his hand on her stomach and looked into her eyes, she smiled and reached over and grabbed the bag._

_"What else did you get?"_

_She tipped the contents of the bag on to bed, multiple sets of clothes, socks, shoes and toys fell on to the bed. He looked slightly embarrassed, she smiled, she was so lucky to have someone like him. _

_She picked up a t-shirt that had anchors all over it and laughed. _

_"Really?"_

_He snatched it off of her and laughed._

_"Hey, this baby will be a Navy legacy, with your brain and my muscles our kid will be Chief of Navy…"_

_She traced her index finger over the pattern and shook her head slightly. Dylan tilted his head, puzzled at her silence._

_"What?"_

_She leaned over and kissed him, he laughed as the separated._

_"Ah, not that I mind but what was that for?"_

_She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek._

_"I love you…"_

_He smiled and let out a laugh._

_"I know…"_

_She knew he was teasing, she playfully punched him on the arm, he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead._

_"Love you more…"_

_End of Flashback._

Kate and Nikki arrived back at her house and walked out on to the deck. Dylan was cooking the BBQ, he turned around and was wearing an apron that had a toned torso on the front, Nikki giggled.

"You know that's only funny if you didn't already look like that!"

He flexed his biceps and pulled Kate in for a hug and a kiss.

"So, where are all the bags? You said you went to K-Mart right?"

"Ah, just had a wonder, that's all…"

Kate snuggled into his embrace, she looked back at Nikki with a heartbreaking look, all she could do is smile back.

Kate's phone beeped, she rummaged though her bag on the couch, it was Mike. She stepped away from Dylan, he turned back to tend to the BBQ.

"I know you probably don't want to hear from me right now but this affects too many people not to find out. We need to do the right thing by everyone."

Kate knew he was right, she quickly replied.

"I know, and I'll arrange to get a test done."

Dylan walked up behind her causing her to jump.

"Everything okay?"

Kate nodded and headed back inside.

Dylan, Kate and Nikki sat on the couch exchanging Navy stories, Lia came running out and sat on Nikki's lap.

"What's your boat's name?"

"Ah, HMAS Glenelg…"

"Cool! Do you wanna see the boats that Daddy got me?"

"Sure…"

Lia ran off to the bathroom to get her boats, Nikki laughed and sipped on her glass of wine.

"She sure loves the Navy!"

Nikki looked in Dylan's direction, he scoffed.

"Hey, I can't help it if she prefers boats over ponies! It sure is cheaper!"

"I bet you were glad to have another female in the house, this one gives off enough testosterone!"

Kate sat staring into space not hearing any o their conversation, Nikki nudged her and waved her hand in her face.

"Hey! Earth to Kate?"

Kate blinked a few times bringing her back to the moment.

"Ah, yeah…"

Later that night Kate pottered around the bedroom getting ready for bed, Dylan watched as she walked around like a zombie, he knew there was something wrong, she had seemed distracted and distant all evening. Kate got into bed and pulled the covers around her and turned off the bedside lamp.

"Night..."

Dylan turned the light back on and sat up.

"Kate, what is going on? You've been quiet all night, and it looks like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Kate lay there with her back towards him, this was it, this was her opportunity to tell him, she didn't know if she could. She was scared how he would react, she sat up trying to think of a way to start.

"I need to explain something..."

Dylan laughed at her strange tone.

"Yeah, we can talk about anything, you know that..."

"Yeah, well this is complicated..."

He wrapped his arm around her pulling her into his nook and kissed her on the head.

"Kate, life is complicated…"

She sighed and moved out of his embrace, she didn't deserve to feel comforted.

"So umm, you noticed some tension between Mike and I..."

Dutchy nodded.

"Yeah, well you're not one to hide your feelings..."

Kate hesitated, was it too late to back out? She looked up at Dylan, she needed to savour this moment, to remember the way he looked at her when he still loved her. She took a deep breath in and looked away, no matter how much it hurt, he deserved to know.

"Mike and I, we umm..."

She stopped, the words refused to come out of her mouth, she sheepishly glanced up at Dylan. His brow creased seeing her ashamed face, she knew he knew what she was about to say. He swallowed hard, he knew but he needed to hear her say it.

"You were what?"

Kate's eyes welled with tears, it was in the past and she felt nothing, but she knew it was going to hurt him.

End of Chapter 7.


	8. Chapter 8

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 8.

"I, we… we had a bit of a thing…"

Dylan took a moment to register what that meant, he bit his bottom lip to stop himself saying something stupid in the spur of the moment. He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

"A thing?"

Kate still couldn't bring her eyes to meet his, she nodded waiting for him to yell. Dylan sat there sorting trough the questions in his head, he took a deep breath in.

"Okay, so, how long ago?"

Kate glanced up at him for a split second trying to gauge his mood.

"A long time ago, it's ancient history… I just, I thought that it didn't matter, I mean, it doesn't matter, but..."

Dylan placed his hand on hers, her recent strange moods suddenly made sense. He was actually relieved that it was an outside issue and not anything to do with him.

"Is this why you've been so on edge?"

Kate hesitated before answering, it was a part of it, but she was still concerned that he was being too overprotective, she didn't want to bring up another problem, it would only make things worse.

"I guess…"

Dylan sighed and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Well, I'm not exactly relieved, I mean, I guess I would have preferred not to know but then other the other hand I'm glad you told me. You don't still have feelings for him do you?"

It surprised Kate that he had to ask, had she given any signals that she did?

"No! Dylan, no! You are the love of my life, it was a mistake, I was more afraid that you'd be mad."

"Why would I be mad? Kate, I can't be mad about an ex, we all have them and I mean, you told me so…."

Kate was relieved but also confused, she didn't think this was the way the conversation was going to go. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I love you so much Dylan… and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

He sat there thinking about Kate and Mike together, it was such a strange concept, he and Mike were complete opposites, how could she fall for them both?

"Hey, you didn't plan this… but I guess it could be worse…"

It was worse and Dylan's words made her feel worse, he was so understanding and she was still lying to him. She felt awful for feeling relived, but for now her world was still intact. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him.

"I get the last laugh anyway, I was the keeper..."

Kate fought back the tears and snuggled into his arm nook to hide her face.

"Yep..."

The next morning Kate awoke early, she had a terrible nights sleep, she still felt so guilty. She got up and headed downstairs to make everyone breakfast. Nikki was the first to stir, she came out of her room yawning.

"Morning..."

Kate turned to greet her, Nikki frowned as she noticed her puffy eyes.

"You okay?"

Kate looked around to check that no one else was in earshot.

"I told him about Mike, but I couldn't tell him about the other thing…"

"Did you tell him it was at Watson's?"

She shook her head and turned back to the stove.

"I can't, he'll figure it out, I need to get the test done first..."

Nikki walked over to the fridge and grabbed the OJ.

"And he was okay?"

Kate sighed and slammed the tongs on the bench and ran her hands through her hair.

"Yeah, god Nikki, what am I doing? He's the best guy and I'm a bitch..."

Nikki placed the juice on the bench and rubbed Kate's back.

"Kate, you're not a bitch, you just have bad, umm, timing? So what are you gonna do about the test?"

"Yeah, umm we're meeting today to do it, and if she's not then, well I'll deal with it if that happens."

Lia came bounding down the stairs in her pyjamas covered in boats.

"Yay! Weekend!"

She ran over to Nikki and jumped into her arms.

"How long are you staying for?"

Nikki maneuvered her on to her hip and smiled.

"Ah, well, if Mummy and Daddy don't mind, at least a week."

Kate looked over to Nikki surprised at her answer.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they've decided to do an overhaul on the old girl and bring her in for her scheduled maintenance early, so I've got at least 2 weeks off…"

Kate smiled, she was thankful to her have her old friend around.

Dylan walked into the kitchen, Nikki could see he hadn't slept very well either.

"Why don't I cook, give you guys a break, huh? Lia, why don't you be my assistant while Mummy and Daddy get dressed."

She nodded enthusiastically and Nikki placed her on to her step.

Kate and Dylan walked back upstairs to their bedroom and sat on the bed, Kate held his hand and gave it a squeeze noticing his quiet mood.

"You okay?"

He wasn't sure, yesterday he said it was okay, but today he wasn't sure. He wasn't mad, he was confused, intrigued even.

"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me in the first place, we never lie to each other..."

Kate should have known he wasn't okay, she glanced down at their intertwined hands.

"I know, I guess I didn't want it to be weird or awkward, but it came out anyway cos I felt guilty."

Dylan removed his hand from Kate's grip and rose from the bed and walked around the room.

"So, did it not end well?"

Kate felt her heart rate increase, she didn't want to lie further.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, there seems to be some kind of tension, I mean, the day we met him in Maxine's office, the look on your face, I've never seen you look like that before.."

Before Kate could think of an explanation both their phones beeped. They exchanged an all knowing glance and took their phones out their pocket.

Dylan packed their bags as Kate headed downstairs to break the news to Lia, she was used to Dylan getting crash sailed but not both of her parents. Kate walked up to Nikki and whispered in her ear.

"Ah, we've been crash sailed..."

"You want me to look after Lia?"

"Would you mind?"

Kate leaned down and scooped Lia up in her arms.

"So, Mummy and Daddy have to go to work…"

Lia titled her head and pouted.

"But Auntie Nikki is staying?"

"Yeah…"

Lia's grin returned to her face, and she shrugged.

"That's okay then…"

Nikki grabbed the pan and slid the pancake on to the plate and handed it to Lia.

"Chocolate chip pancake for the princess!"

Lia scrunched up her face as she took the plate.

"I'm not a princess, I'm a Captain."

"Oh, sorry! That's right… here you go, Captain!"

Nikki gave her a salute and Lia ran off to the table, Kate scoffed.

"Well, we all know who the favourite is now…"

Nikki stepped towards Kate and glanced up to the stairs for any sign of Dylan.

"Ah, do you want me to take her to get the sample while you're out?"

"Nik, I can't ask you to do that, you're already too involved, it's my mess…"

Nikki replaced the pan on the stove and grabbed Kate by her shoulders.

"Hey, you're my ride or die remember? And I can pretend it's a game or something, it might be less obvious, have you canceled the appointment?"

She shook her head, Nikki re-gripped her shoulders and looked into Kate's eyes.

"I've got you, it'll be fine…"

Kate smiled as tears welled in her eyes, she wrapped her arms around Nikki and squeezed her tight.

"I don't know what I'd do without you…"

They separated as Dylan walked down the stairs, he walked over to Lia and gave her a hug.

"Be good, see you soon, love you…"

She rolled up her pancake and held it in his face.

"You want some?"

He grinned and took a large bite, nearly consuming all of it, her jaw dropped and pulled it away from him.

"Hey! Don't eat all of it!"

Nikki laughed and brought the pan over to her and placed another one her plate.

"It's okay, there's plenty more!"

Kate shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"You're going to spoil her, aren't you?"

Nikki shrugged.

"That's what Aunties are for, aren't they?"

She handed Kate a foil package.

"Take away…"

Dylan snatched it from Kate's hand and smirked.

"You're the best! Thanks Nikki…"

After the questions from the morning Kate was nervous about them being on board together, she knew that they were both Dylan and Mike were good at bottling things up.

Kate gave Dylan's hand a squeeze as he turned off the engine. He went to open to door, Kate pulled on his hand a little.

"I love you!"

He smiled and leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Love you too!"

He cleared his throat and laughed.

"Okay, work mode! Yes, Ma'am..."

They made their way on to the ship, Dylan went to his cabin and Kate knocked on Mike's door.

"Sir?"

Mike opened the door surprised to see her.

"Ah, can we chat?"

Mike nodded and opened the door wider, she stepped inside and closed it, Mike sat back at his desk avoiding eye contact.

"So, umm, I've got someone taking Lia to get her sample today, so when you get back you can just go in and…"

Mike looked up from his paperwork, he was a little worried about who else knew.

"Who?"

Kate's eyes darted around the room.

"Ah, just a friend it's fine…"

Mike let out an disapproving grunt and turned back to his paperwork, there was a deafening silence.

"So umm, you and Petty Officer Mulholland."

Kate felt uneasy discussing her relationship with him, he was her boss, and her kind of ex.

"Yeah, umm look, I told him that we were together, but not when and where so I'd appreciate it if you didn't either."

"Sure..."

Kate shifted her weight from side to side, she wasn't sure that Mike was okay with everything.

"Ah, so are you okay?"

He shrugged and said nothing , she knew that he wasn't all right, and she didn't blame him. She just needed to get through this patrol without either of them asking more questions.

She exited his cabin and closed the door and sighed, like she needed her life to be more complicated.

Kate walked down the corridor and knocked on Dylan's door, he swung open the door and smiled.

"Hey!"

"Hey! So umm, you're gonna be okay seeing Mike?"

"Ahh, won't be sure till I actually see him?"

"Do you think we should all talk about it!?"

"No, I just, I think it's best in the past..."

They spotted the other crew walking towards them and immediately stopped talking. 2Dads and Charge walked up to Dylan's cabin, Kate made herself scarce, she wasn't in the mood for their jokes.

Later that day Mike and Kate were on the bridge going over the ships paperwork, Dylan walked up the stairs and observed them for a moment. He tried not to be jealous, he told Kate that he was fine but seeing them so close made images flash into his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to ignore them, he cleared his throat announcing his presence. Kate stood back from Mike and smiled.

"Ah, Petty Officer, what can we do for you?"

She winced a little as she said "we", she knew it meant nothing but this situation was making her over think things. Her trying not to make things awkward was making it more awkward.

"Ah, if we're just sitting tight am I able to conduct some drills with the young ones?"

"Ah, yeah, good idea!"

Dylan gave them a nod and left. He didn't really want to leave them alone after his mind decided to play games on him but he also couldn't stand watching them work together. Mike waited for Dylan to be out of earshot and glanced over to Kate.

"He okay?"

Kate busied herself with the paperwork, she didn't want to discuss it with him.

"Yeah, we're great..."

Mike didn't believe her but he knew that this was not the place to discuss it.

Kate made her way out on to the deck to watch Dylan run the drills. They deployed both the RHIBS and Dylan was leading a practice search for POB.

Kate watched as he instructed Bird to take the wheel of the RHIB, she cringed.

"Dylan, she's not ready!"

He pointed to the buoy in the water and she turned a hard right, it was too hard and sent the passengers flying out of the RHIB and into the water.

Kate let out a loud gasp and growled Dylan's name.

She watched as Bird began to panic and turned the RHIB around, not seeing where they had landed she nearly ran 2Dads over. She immediately turned off the engine and leaned over the side looking for her crew mates.

Dylan heaved himself back up onto the RHIB and tried to calm her.

Mike came out hearing Kate's frustration, he looked out to sea and frowned watching Dylan pull his crew back on to the RHIB.

"What the hell is going on?"

Kate couldn't take her eyes off the scene in front of her.

"Ah, not sure, Sir."

Mike stormed back into the bridge and grabbed the radio.

"Papa82 to Bravo82, come in."

Dylan finished pulling 2Dads into the RHIB and unhooked his radio. He could tell from the tone in Mike's voice that he wasn't happy.

"Bravo82 to Papa82 receiving..."

"Return to the ship at once..."

"Yeah, copy that Papa82, Bravo82 out..."

Dylan shook his head, he knew he was in trouble, he was the leader out there and it went pear-shaped.

They stowed the RHIB and Dylan made his way to the bridge while the others headed to their cabin to dry off.

Dylan stood in front of Mike while Kate stood off to the side, she didn't really want to be a part of this. This was one of the reasons why they didn't let relationships happen on board.

"Petty Officer, what the hell happened out there?"

Dylan's eyes darted from the floor up to Mike.

"I umm, I was trying to give Bird a chance to umm, to learn how to drive the RHIB..."

"She's our newest recruit, only been with us for a couple of months, do you really think she was ready?"

"Well, in this job, Sir, no one is ever really ready."

Mike wasn't impressed with his answer, he didn't feel that he was taking it seriously.

"Petty Officer, you put the crew in danger for no reason."

"Sir, I wasn't to know what was going to happen."

"Yes, but you shouldn't have put Bird in that situation, not with an RHIB full of sailors!"

Dylan tried to make eye contact with Kate but her eyes were firmly fixed on the floor, Mike noticed Dylan's attempted exchange.

"Don't look at the X, I'm the one asking the questions..."

Kate glanced up at him hearing Mike's statement, Dylan eyes focused back on the ground.

"Yes, Sir..."

"Right, you go make sure everyone is okay while I talk to the X about what happened."

Dylan nodded and skulked off down the stairs. Kate took a deep breath in and wondered if she should voice her opinion.

"Boss, I think it was an accident..."

"Of course it was an accident, X, but a preventable one, I need to be able to trust his decision making..."

"I don't think that's really fair, Sir..."

Mike paced around her trying not to make it personal but he couldn't help himself.

"Really? And who's opinion is that? His girlfriends or his XO's?"

Kate's eyes widened from shock, she couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth. Dylan stood at the bottom of the stairs and overheard Mike's dig, he wanted to storm back up there and give him a severe but he knew that would be career suicide, Kate could handle herself.

Kate took a deep breath in and swallowed her pride.

"I think I'll go see if Petty Officer Mulholland needs a hand..."

Kate almost ran down the stairs, she couldn't be in the same vicinity as Mike right now.

She caught up to Dylan as he was heading to the wardroom.

"Hey..."

He didn't respond and kept walking, she grabbed his arm turning him around.

"What?"

She frowned at his short answer, she was trying to help.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a big boy, Kate, I don't need you to fight my battles for me..."

Kate didn't understand why she was copping it, she had defended him but not unreasonably.

"Ah, okay, I wasn't..."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I'd better see if the guys are okay..."

He stepped into the wardroom and closed the door. Kate threw her hands in the air and walked off.

The Hammersley were unable to locate the vessel that they had been crash sailed to find, this made everyone more frustrated. They had returned to port, and the crew were disembarking the ship, Mike pulled on Kate's hand as she walked to the gangway.

"Should we talk? All 3 of us?"

Kate watched as Dylan continued to walk towards the car park.

"Ah, maybe later, I'll let you know..."

Kate ran after Dylan and stopped and looked around to see if any of the crew were around before getting in the car.

"Embarrassed to be seen with me now?"

Kate didn't understand why he was being so touchy.

"What? Dylan, what's going on..."

"Nothing..."

"Dylan!"

He started the car and started to drive home. Kate spent the car ride staring at him trying to make him talk.

They pulled up in their driveway and Dylan turned off the engine and got out the car ignoring her, Kate rolled her eyes and got out the car, she put on a smile as Lia swung open the front door.

"Mummy! Daddy!"

She leapt into Dylan's arms and he gave her a squeeze. Kate's stomach churned as she watched them interact. What if he wasn't her father? She hoped that Mike would go in ASAP.

They walked into their house, Nikki was in the kitchen standing at the stove, Kate let out a laugh.

"Have you left the kitchen since we left?"

Nikki laughed and gave her a hug.

"Thought you guys would appreciate a home-cooked meal..."

"Hey, I cook..."

Dylan walked up behind her and laughed.

"Making 2 minute noodles doesn't count, Kate... thanks Nik, it smells great!"

Dylan made his way upstairs to put away his bag, Kate followed him and shut the door.

"So we're joking around now? What is with you?"

Dylan threw his bag on to the floor and sat on the bed.

"How did I become the bad person?"

"You're not Dylan, but you said it was fine…"

"I said there was nothing I could do, but now that I see you two together all I see is…"

Kate winced, she didn't want to hear him say it little own picture it in her head. She sat next to him, she should have know that he wasn't okay with it all.

"You know what hurts the most is that you lied to me about him, like it just makes me think why was he so special to lie about?"

Kate squeezed his arm, she felt terrible, Dylan may have looked like a tough macho guy on the outside but he had this sweet, sensitive side, a side that he had only really shown to her and she was betraying him. She wanted to stop all the lying, to tell him about Lia, but she wasn't sure he could handle it right now.

"I'm sorry Dylan, I wasn't thinking..."

"Maybe if you tell me more it might put my mind at rest..."

Kate couldn't reveal the details without revealing the time line.

"I really don't think that will help. All you need to know is that I love you, you're the only guy for me! Mike was a mistake and..."

Dylan got up from the bed and walked into the en-suite, it worried him that she didn't want to talk about it.

"I just need a bit of space to work through this, okay?"

Kate had never seen him like this, she didn't know what to do but she knew that pushing him wasn't going to help.

"Okay..."

She returned downstairs, Nikki noticed her somber look.

"Everything okay?"

Kate sat down at the kitchen bench deep in thought.

"I'm not sure..."

Nikki leaned over on the bench and gave her arm a squeeze.

"He'll come round, he loves you..."

Dylan came back down the stairs in his gym gear.

"Umm, I'm just gonna go for a run..."

Dylan left and Kate looked over to Nikki with a concerned expression.

"He's not okay…"

End Chapter 8.


	9. Chapter 9

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 9

Dylan jogged down towards the water, running always seems to clear his mind. He slowed as he approached the docks, he ran along the water's edge and stopped as he came face to face with the Hammersley. He cursed its name, it was Hammersley's fault for bringing them all together and for resurrecting the past. He spotted Mike up on deck, he needed more answers and ran up the gangway startling him.

"Not heading home?"

"Ah, nah, got a bit of paperwork to do..."

Dylan shook his head at himself, what was he doing? He knew that it wasn't really Mike's fault. He turned to leave, he wanted to trust Kate, she said it was in the past but he couldn't help but think there was more to it. He turned back as Mike started to head below and called out after him.

"Does your wife know you're working with an ex?"

Dylan didn't mean for it to come out so bluntly, Mike froze and turned back and stood close hoping no one else had heard, he was surprised he was bringing it up.

"Ah, no. But if she did, I bet she wouldn't be impressed either..."

Dylan frowned at Mike's assumption.

"What makes you think I'm not impressed..."

Mike let out a slight scoff, it was written all over his face and in his tone.

"C'mon Dutchy, no one wants their partner working with an ex, good or bad break up..."

Dylan frowned, he thought it was a strange thing to say.

"So, what was it for you and Kate?"

He didn't really want to know, but the question rolled off his tongue before he could stop it. Mike hesitated wondering how much Kate had said.

"Ah, it's probably best if you talk to Kate about this..."

Mike started to walk off, Dylan placed himself in Mike's path making him stop.

"Well, I'm asking you..."

Mike sighed, Dylan was the one on the outer, he felt bad for him so he gave him something.

"Ah, it wasn't great, I mean break ups are never pleasant..."

Dylan remained in Mike's way, he wasn't answering the question, now he was more nervous about who broke up with who.

"Who ended it?"

"Dylan, I really think you should talk to Kate."

Dylan ignored his suggestion and pushed again.

"Who?"

Mike dropped his head, either way his answer would cause more questions and trouble.

"Me..."

Dylan titled his head surprised by his answer, Kate was a good person, a great mother, he didn't understand why someone would not want to be with her. Mike could see the cogs turning inside Dylan's mind, he knew he needed to elaborate else he would assume it was worse than it really was.

"It was complicated, it wasn't her fault. Look, it's not important anyway, right? You're with her, she loves you, we've both moved on."

Dylan wanted to believe him but he had a sickening feeling in his stomach that something wasn't right, he glared at Mike for a moment and then turned and ran off. Mike immediately got out his phone to call Kate.

"Hey, I think we better get our story straight, Dylan was just here asking questions… no, I didn't tell him, but I don't know if he'll stop asking..."

Kate sat on her couch and rubbed her hands over her face. Lia flopped into her lap and tried to mimic Kate's expression.

"What's wrong, Mummy?"

Kate tried to put on a convincing smile.

"Nothing , sweetie, just silly adult stuff!"

Lia smiled and wrapped her arms around Kate's neck.

"Don't worry Mummy, I'll always love you..."

Kate gave her a squeeze back and sighed.

"I know, I will always love you too. Can you stay here with Auntie Nikki for a minute, Mummy needs to go out."

Lia nodded, Kate picked her up and placed her on the couch, she passed her the remote and turned on the TV. She grabbed her bag and called out to Nikki.

"Be back in a minute..."

Nikki was still in the kitchen stirring dinner and gave her a nod.

Kate drove down to the docks, she passed Dylan running home but didn't see him, but he saw her. He quickly turned around and followed her car. He frowned as she pulled in to the car park and headed for Hammersley. He felt bad for flowing her but he was right, something was up.

He stood on the dock wondering whether to go aboard and confront them both, she could only be here for personal reasons, if it was about work she would have told him.

Kate nervously knocked on Mike's cabin door, he opened the door slightly and saw it was her.

"Hey..."

Kate barged into his cabin and shut the door.

"What did you say to him?"

Dylan couldn't take the images that were forming in his head, he had to see what was going on. He took a deep breath in and walked up the gangway.

Mike sat back down on his chair and exhaled loudly.

"He was asking who broke up with who, I said it was complicated, but he kept pushing, so I told him I broke up with you..."

Kate closed her eyes for a second, she hadn't thought about that day in years. She hated the way it made her feel, opened her eyes and tried to ignore it.

"Then what?"

Dylan stood outside the cabin door, he could hear voices, he placed his ear up against the door.

"Then I told him he should be speaking to you, I just think he deserved the truth."

"That is the truth Mike, you left me, you left me in that hotel room. You lead me to believe that we had something, and then you just left. Do you know how that made me feel?"

Kate didn't mean to be so dramatic, but she never had any closure, her heart took over her mouth. Mike stood up to try to console her.

"Kate, we did have something, but I was dealing with a lot of things..."

She stepped back from him trying to fight back the tears.

"Yeah, I know but it still doesn't make it hurt any less..."

Dylan stood outside the door, he was furious and saddened, he couldn't believe the way she was taking about Mike. She had brushed it off as nothing, and now she was saying they could have had something and he broke her heart. He had a choice, go in and get the truth, or walk away. He let out a grunt, he knew it was never going to be the latter. He opened the door without warning making them both jump, Kate tried to wipe the tears from her face before he noticed but he wasn't silly, he knew she'd been upset.

"Kate?"

"Dylan, What are you doing here?"

He wasn't in the mood for games but he also didn't want to fly off the handle.

"What's going on? And, I want the truth..."

Mike and Kate exchanged nervous glances, Mike cleared his throat.

"Dylan, we weren't trying to..."

Kate stepped forward and shook her head at Mike signalling to him to stop.

"It's okay, I'll explain..."

She exhaled loudly and took Dylan's hand.

"Can we talk about this at home?"

He wiggled his hand out of hers and stepped back.

"No, I wanna hear it from both of you."

Kate knew this was a bad idea, none of this was really Mike's fault, she tried again.

"Please, Dylan..."

He glanced at Mike then back to Kate, he could see she was desperate to not involve Mike more than she had to. He sighed, it was probably better they didn't air their dirty laundry in front of him. Dylan let out a huff and turned to leave, Mike pulled back on Kate's arm.

"Call me if you need me..."

Dylan frowned hearing Mike's words, he stormed off to Kate's car and got in. Kate got into the driver's side, she didn't know how she would explain, she was scared about how he was going to react. He turned to face her, his face full of anger.

"Well?"

Her fear came out as anger, she couldn't help it.

"You can't just go and confront him like that..."

Dylan's face hardened.

"Why are you mad at me? I should be the only one angry here…"

She let out a frustrated huff, there were things she wanted to leave out but she knew she had to tell him everything.

"I just need you to not have a go at Mike, it's not his fault, and…"

Dylan's rage grew by the second, why was she lecturing him?"

"And what Kate? Why are you standing up for him? Maybe if you spent more time talking to me and less to him then…"

"Maxine is Mike's wife…"

Dylan's jaw dropped.

"What?"

Kate concentrated on the road in front of her, more than anything she didn't want to be responsible for something happening to Dylan's career if he said something in the heat of the moment.

"I just, they were still together when we were together. She knows that he had an affair but she doesn't know I was the other woman…"

Dylan shook his head, he couldn't believe how out of hand this was.

"Right, so this is about saving your ass?'

"No! I thought you should know, cos if you go and say something stupid it could affect your career too!"

Dylan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, he needed a moment to process everything. They rest of the ride home was silent, Dylan swung open the front door and Lia jumped up from the couch.

"Daddy!"

He picked her up and gave her a kiss.

"Hi, Sweetie, you having fun with Auntie Nikki?"

She nodded and rubbed her tummy.

"Yup! She makes yummy food..."

Kate opened her bag and handed Nikki some money.

"Why don't you guys go out for ice cream?"

Nikki frowned sensing something was up, she shot Kate an "Everything okay?" Look. Kate shook her head slightly, Nikki grabbed Lia from Dylan's arms and balanced her on her hip.

"C'mon, what's your favourite flavour?"

Lia threw her arms in the air in excitement.

"All of them..."

Nikki laughed and headed for the door.

Kate sat on the couch and tried to think of a way to start, Dylan paced around the room unable to sit still.

"So, what happened between you two?"

Kate closed her eyes not wanting to relive the week but she no longer had a choice.

"Ah, the reason I was upset was because of the way we broke up, it wasn't even a breakup, umm, I woke up one morning and he was gone."

Dylan didn't know how to react, it was a terrible thing for Mike to do but if it didn't end badly, they may not have ended up together.

"Right..."

"But Dylan, it doesn't matter. I met you and I love you."

Dylan sighed and sat beside her.

"Kate, it's not that I don't trust you but can you understand why its hard for me to believe you now?"

Kate reached over and wrapped her hand in his.

"I just didn't want you to worry..."

"Why would I worry?"

Kate sighed, she had to tell him, it was going to eat her alive if she didn't. She took a deep breath in and glanced up at him.

"Because all of this happened the day before I met you..."

Dylan wasn't expecting her to say what she said, it totally threw him, he didn't mean to yell but he couldn't control it.

"So I was a rebound?"

Kate gripped his arm, desperate to make him listen.

"No! I mean, c'mon it's not like we went on dates or anything, we watched footy, got drunk... but that doesn't matter, look at us now, we fell in love..."

He knew that she would have never wanted it this way, but it made him irrationally mad, mad at her, mad at him but most of all it made him feel stupid. Their perfectly cute meeting he would tell everyone about was a lie, she wasn't this cool chick that could drink the boys under the table that he met at a bar by chance, she had been heartbroken and was drowning her sorrows. Would she have taken an interest in him if she hadn't been dumped? Did she actually like him from that first moment? He knew these were stupid questions, but it was all he could think about. He rose from the couch and started to pace again.

"God, I feel like an idiot going on about our first meeting, there was no way you would have felt something, you were getting over someone."

Kate was waiting for him to question her about Lia's paternity but it hadn't dawned on him, she continued hoping it wouldn't come up.

"But we still had a good time, you were, and still are a good guy..."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head dismissing her comment.

"Yeah, whatever..."

Kate stood in front of him trying to get him to focus.

"Dylan, this doesn't change anything..."

He stepped away from her and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Yes, yes, it does! Because 24 hours before I met you and started to fall for you you were with someone else, it just makes me feel like a runner-up. It wasn't really me you wanted and that…"

Tears started to run down Kate's cheeks, she stepped towards him.

"But I fell in love with you..."

"Yeah, after my begging and pleading and... I just can't be around you..."

The words cut through Kate's heart like a hot knife through butter. He had never spoken to her like that, she felt so ashamed.

She reached out and touched his shoulder, he shrugged it off. Tears ran from both of their eyes.

"I love you, Dylan..."

He glanced over to her and shook his head, he let out a huff and walked out the front door.

He walked into the pub and placed himself at the bar and ordered a double scotch.

"Oi!"

He turned as he heard a familiar voice call out, it was 2Dads.

"What are you doing here?"

Dylan shrugged and picked up his glass.

"Ah, just having a drink..."

2Dads glanced down at Dylan's double scotch and knew there was more too it.

"Right, well I'll join you..."

Dylan took a sip and kept his head down.

"Ah, no offence, but I'm not really in the mood for company."

"Well, I'm not going to leave you here when you're drinking doubles. Did you have a fight with the missus?"

Dylan didn't want to discuss it and took another sip of his drink,

2Dads nudged him with his elbow.

"I'll take that as a yes… Your fault or hers? Actually, if I've learned anything about women, it's that it's always our fault..."

Dylan let out a scoff and swallowed the rest of his glass.

"No, it's definitely her fault..."

2Dads ordered two more drinks.

"Oh, well now you've gotta tell me!"

The bartender placed 2 fresh glasses in front of them, Dylan picked up the glass and took a sip.

"I'm not gonna tell Dutchy, you just look like you need someone to talk to..."

Dylan sighed, he did need someone to talk to, but he was worried about the consequences.

"Okay, hypothetically, would you be mad if you found out that your partner was seeing someone like the day before you met and didn't tell you?"

It didn't sound that bad to 2Dads, people break up and meet new people all the time.

"Ah, well kind of, but they broke up right?"

"Wouldn't you feel like a rebound?"

2Dads shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

"Well kinda, but you guys have been together for so long, so it's not a rebound..."

Dylan turned and raised his eye brow.

"Hypothetically, remember..."

2Dads grinned and pat him on the shoulder.

"Yeah okay, so she didn't tell you, that sucks but..."

"Yeah, but the night I met her I pretty much knew she was the one... I mean, I thought she felt something too but in reality she was just trying to get over someone else..."

Dylan swallowed his second glass and ordered them another round.

"There're different kinds of love though, Dutchy, I mean not many people can say they have felt love at first sight. I think you're reading into it more than you should be."

Dutchy frowned, he didn't expect 2Dads to be so insightful about love.

"But from what I gather she had a real connection with the other bloke, he's the one that broke it off..."

2Dads didn't want to be seen as taking sides, however he didn't want Dutchy to do something rash because he was mad, he hoped that he could get him to see reason.

"Again, his loss, people get over people, you obviously helped her get over him and you won!"

Dylan sighed, 2Dads wasn't really helping him to feel better, but the scotch was. He sipped on his fresh drink, 2Dads placed a hand on his.

"Just slow down big fella, this isn't going to help clarify things."

He shrugged off his grip and took a bigger gulp.

"It might..."

2Dads rolled his eyes at his stubbornness.

"Yeah okay, but you have to keep talking. Look, Dutchy, she loves you, this other guy was either a loser or and idiot right? She doesn't still see him does she?"

Dylan's eyes darted from his drink to 2Dads and back to his drink, he nodded, 2Dads tried not to react, he knew that it was an issue.

"Oh, how?"

"They're umm, workmates, they've just started to work together again..."

2Dads tried to think of something helpful to say, something that wasn't going to make it worse.

"Okay, but work is separate, I mean have you seen them together? Are there any signs that there's something there?"

"No, and she insisted there's nothing there..."

"So you don't believe her?"

"I want to but I don't understand why she didn't tell me, especially when they started working together."

"Dylan, it just seems like you need to just move on..."

Dylan sighed and took a bigger sip.

"I can't..."

"Why?"

Dylan hesitated, answering the question meant blowing their secret, but he was in too deep, he needed to let it out.

"Because, I see him a lot too..."

2Dads sipped on his glass trying to figure out Dylan's cryptic puzzle of a relationship .

"But you said he works with your missus, how do you see him a lot?"

Dylan didn't mean to have it get this far but if 2Dads was really going to understand her had to know.

"He's my Boss too..."

2Dads was mid mouthful, he swallowed trying to put it together.

"Hang on, as in the boss? Like, the CO, Mike?"

Dylan nodded, and they both swallowed the rest of the drinks, 2Dads put his glass down on the mat and titled his head.

"Hang on, you said she works with him too..."

Dylan waited for it to connect in 2Dads head, he counted down in his head, 3,2,1... 2Dads leapt out of his chair.

"You're with the X!?"

Dylan's eyes widened at the level of 2Dads voice, he checked around them for any sailors and shh'd him.

"Keep it down!"

2Dads slammed his fist onto the bar and shook his head.

"Oh, I knew it! I said to Charge on that first day that there was something up... oh, but yeah, that's complicated..."

They sat there in silence for a moment, 2Dads reach out and playfully punched him.

"You and the X! Man, I still can't quite see it... Hang on, so you guys have a kid together..."

Dylan nodded.

"Yeah..."

2Dads laughed, still not quite believing it.

"Wow."

"You can't tell anyone! We'll be in so much trouble! I mean Commander White knows but we weren't to tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed, but I have so many questions, I mean she seems so straight, how is she coping with breaking the rules."

Dylan laughed thinking about it.

"Yeah, she's hating it..."

"So, how did you two meet?"

"At a bar, she was obviously drowning her sorrows, and I was a poor sucker intrigued by a pretty face."

"How did you know she was the one?"

"She was drinking like one of the boys and screamed at the footy on the TV, how do you not fall in love with that? Well, and, she just, she calms me, no one's ever made me feel the way I do about her, ever, "

2Dads laughed, he still couldn't quite imagine any of this happening.

"Right, so let me get this straight, the X and the Boss were together, and he broke up with her and then the next day you met and you fell in love with her? And the Boss knows you're together?"

Dylan nodded as he downed the rest of his glass.

"So you think that they were like, serious?"

"Yes and no, they weren't together for that long but apparently they had something, Mike left her with a note..."

"Ouch!"

"But I get the feeling that there're unresolved feelings which makes me feel on edge..."

"I see where you're coming from but you've been together for 7 years Dutchy, he can't take that away from you."

Dylan sighed and placed his head on the bar, 2Dads ordered them another drink.

"Right, and so the Brass are okay with being on the same ship?"

"Not really but they didn't have a choice, but I dunno what's gonna happen, I mean if she's permanently posted on Hammersley and I'm taken off I don't know if I can bear it?"

"Don't make yourself look like the bad guy, if you love her and trust her you're just gonna have to take her word for it!"

Dylan picked up his glass and glanced at 2Dads out the corner of his eye.

"How are you so wise?"

2Dads grinned and sipped his drink.

"It's a gift…"

A little while later Dylan had reached his limit, 2Dads had stopped drinking out of concern for his friend. Dylan leaned over the bar and checked his glass, it was empty.

"Ah, why don't we get you home big fella..."

Dylan shook his head and slammed the glass on the bar.

"Nah, here's better..."

2Dads threw his arm over his shoulder and walked him out of the pub.

"What's so good about Mike Flynn, huh? Is it the power?"

2Dads laughed.

"Not sure, mate. But you're a pretty good catch, well, when you're not drunk, anyway."

They piled into a cab and arrived at Kate's house, 2Dads helped him up the front path and opened the door, Kate jumped up and was horrified to see 2Dads supporting Dylan.

"Hi, Ma'am..."

"Ah, 2Dads, I was umm, ah, oh, looking after Dylan's daughter."

2Dads laughed, it amused him to see his superior lost for words but he also felt bad for her.

"Ah, it's okay, that cats out of the bag, but I promise that I won't say anything!"

Kate stood there uncertain about how to act, should she go the tough XO route or just be thankful that 2Dads brought him home safe? She sighed and helped 2Dads lay him on the couch.

"Look, Ma'am, I know it none of my business..."

Kate glared at him trying to scare him into keeping his opinions to himself, but in reality she was afraid of what he would say.

"No, it's not, but go on..."

"He really loves you and I think he just needs some reassurance..."

"How much did he tell you?"

"Everything... but you know these tough guys, they're really scared little boys on the inside. There must be something you can do to show him how much you love him?"

Kate sat there for a moment, 2Dads suddenly felt a little awkward.

"Well, I'm gonna head off, good luck."

2Dads headed for the door, Kate called out after him.

"2Dads..."

He stopped and turned at the door.

"Yeah..."

"Thanks for being a good friend..."

"Anytime, he's a good guy..."

"I know..."

2Dads left, Kate sat there pondering how she could make it up to him, she knew she had to pull out the big guns. She took out her phone and opened google, she smiled as results appeared on her screen.

"Perfect…"

End of Chapter 9. xx


	10. Chapter 10

Guys,

Blown away from all the feedback! Thank you so much! I've had a crazy couple of weeks at work, barley had time to write, but i promise i'll respond to you all soon!

Glad you're enjoying the ride but there's a lot more to come so strap yourselves in!

Love at First Lie

Chapter 10.

The next morning Kate awoke early hoping she could get her plan together in time. She let Dylan sleep, she knew that if he was less hung over he'd be less resistant to her plan. She had sent Nikki and Lia to the movies so she could have the house to herself but she also didn't have time to answer a million questions.

A few hours later her plan was in motion, she sat down next to Dylan on the couch and waited for him to wake. He turned over and began to snore, she giggled at his snorts which caused him to stir. He bolted upright not remember where he was for a moment, he hunched himself forward feeling the blood rush from his head and held his head in his hands.

"Kate?"

She smiled sweetly trying not to laugh as his state.

"Morning..."

He lay back down on the couch placing his hands over his face and closed his eyes.

"Why are you watching me sleep?"

She leaned over him and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Well, I need you to wake up..."

Dylan grimaced at her cheery disposition.

"Why? It's our weekend off and, well, I just want to do nothing…"

She pulled on his arm slightly and rose from the couch.

"We're going on a trip..."

He rubbed his hand over his face, it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"What?"

She pulled harder.

"C'mon, I've arranged everything, we're all packed, you just need to have a shower, you smell like a distillery."

Kate attempted to pull him off the couch, but he was to heavy, she fell back on to him and he let out a pained groan.

"Kate, I'm not in the mood, and I don't really think it's the right time for us to be going on a trip, we're in the middle of..."

Kate ignored his objections and stood above him with her hand on her hips.

"I think it's the perfect time... C'mon..."

Dylan grumbled and stumbled off the couch and headed to the bathroom.

An hour later they sat in a cab, Dylan leaned his head against the door frame still feeling the affects of the previous night.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise..."

He opened his eyes as he felt the cab stop, he looked at his surroundings and then glanced over to Kate.

"The airport?"

She smiled and nodded and got out the cab.

Kate dragged him up to the counter, the woman sitting at the desk looked up and smiled.

"Where are we off to today?"

Kate handed her their IDs.

"Ah, we're on the 2pm to Adelaide..."

Dylan let out a disgruntled huff and threw his head backward and rolled his eyes like a child about to have a tantrum.

"We're going home? Are we going to see your family? That's not a getaway..."

Kate smiled as she took the tickets from the attendant trying to hide her annoyance at Dylan's juvenile reaction.

They sat in the waiting area of their gate, Dylan leaned back in the chair and placed his sunglasses over his eyes trying to shield them from the sunlight, still grumpy from his hangover.

"I can't believe we're going back to Adelaide..."

"Don't you want to go back to the place where we made a life for ourselves, our little family."

"Well, yeah, but I mean, we could have gone to, I dunno, the Whitsundays, at least that's romantic. I'm assuming that's what you're doing, trying to apologise?"

Kate ignored his attitude, she was trying to apologise and show him how much she loved him.

Dylan dragged his feet as they walked down the hallway of the hotel to their room, Kate clenched her jaw, just ignore it, Kate. She took a deep breath in and reminded herself of why she was doing this. They entered the room and Dylan headed straight for the bed and flopped onto it, Kate stood above him shaking her head.

"Okay, you get a 1 hour nap and then you need to get changed..."

He nodded, and he curled into the pillow. 1 hour later his alarm sounded, he patted his hand round the bed trying to find his phone to turn it off. Kate snatched it out of his reach.

"Uh, uh, no snooze…"

He yelled into the pillow and rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom. He entered the lounge room with a towel wrapped around his waist holding the clothes Kate had laid out for him.

"This is my footy gear..."

She stepped out from the kitchen wearing jeans and a Port Adelaide guernsey.

"Yup, that's right."

He smiled slightly feeling better about the situation.

"We're going to the footy?"

She nodded as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"We haven't been for so long, we used to go all the time."

As they walked to Adelaide Oval Kate reached out and intertwined her hand with his, she smiled and looked over to him.

"I know we don't get a lot of time together, and I just wanted to do something nice for us."

Dylan appreciated the gesture, but he wasn't sure if it was going to erase his feelings about their previous issue.

They found their seats and got settled in for the game, Kate handed him a drink.

"Ready to go home a loser?"

Dylan laughed and took a sip of his beer.

"Not this time..."

It was another close game, they both eventually found their supporters voice and were cheering on their respective teams.

Dylan sipped on his beer and watched as Kate stood and screamed profanities at the umpire, he laughed remembering their first encounter. 2Dads was right, he needed to move on, they did have a good time when they first met. He had helped her get over Mike and they had fallen in love, that's the story he needed to concentrate on. She sat back down and noticed his eyes focused on her, she leaned over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you..."

He looked into her eyes and brushed the stray hairs away from her face.

'I love you too…"

She squeezed his hand hoping that was his way of saying he was accepting her apology.

It was approaching half time and Kate excused herself to go to the bathroom.

The siren rang and Dylan wondered where she had got to, he took out his phone and sent her a message.

"Where are you?"

"Bathroom, line sucks!"

He rolled his eyes at and continued to play on his phone. The announcer came over the PA.

"Right folks, to commemorate halfway through the season we've got a special give away. We're about to drawer a random ticket and the lucky winners has the chance to win a once in a lifetime prize...so, drum roll please… the winning ticket is Bay 147, row R, seat 47, come on down!"

Dylan continued to scroll not paying any attention to the announcement, he felt someone nudge him, he looked up semi annoyed.

"What?"

The guy sitting next to him pointed to his seat.

"Hey mate, that's you!"

Dylan fished his ticket out of his pocket and scrunched up his face as he read the section, bay and seat number.

"It is me..."

He stood up not really know what to do, an official escorted him to the middle of the ground. He took out his phone and sent Kate a message.

"I'm in the middle of the oval!"

The presenter approached and shoved a microphone in his face.

"So, what's your name, mate?"

Dylan's mind was still trying to catch up to what was happening.

"Ah, Dutchy..."

The presenter raised his eyebrow questioning his name.

"Dutchy?"

"Well, Dylan, Dutchy's a work nickname..."

"And what do you do?"

"Ah, I'm in the Navy..."

The presenter let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, right, so we're really hoping you win cos I don't want to have to face you in the car park later?"

The crowd laughed, Dylan's eyes darted all around, he really wished Kate was with him, she was better at public speaking.

"And are you here with anyone tonight?"

"Ah, my partner, Kate, but she's stuck in the line for the bathroom."

"Oh no! She will miss your moment of glory! But, as a substitute we've got our Port Adelaide mascot Thunder Power here to keep you company!"

Thunder Power ran out on to the field and looked Dylan up and down, he waved his hand in the air and shook his head.

"Oh, it looks like Thunder isn't too happy with your choice of colours..."

"Ah, yeah my partners a Port supporter, we actually met while watching a Port and Freo game..."

"And who won that night?"

"Port, by a goal."

The crowd cheered as Thunder Power did a celebratory somersault.

"Right, now, this game is called "Bin it to win it", you just need to kick the footy in to the bins to win the prizes. The first bin is a signed guernsey that your wife will love. The second bin gets you a thousand dollars and the third, well, that's a surprise! Okay, are you ready?"

Dylan nodded nervously and lined up for the first kick. He picked up some grass and threw it in the air, mimicking what all the great Full Forwards do, the crowd laughed and cheered. He ran up and kicked the ball, it landed perfectly in the first bin. The presenter ran over to him and pat him on the back.

"Hey! Winner, winner!"

Thunder Power swung around the guernsey and walked over to Dylan, he grabbed the bottom of Dylan's Freo guernsey and pulled it over his head stripping it off of him. The female portion of the crowd wolf whistled at Dylan's chiseled physique. The presenter laughed and stood in front of him, the female crowed booed him.

"Woah, guys this is PG remember?!"

Thunder Power placed the Port guernsey over his head and nodded with satisfaction.

Dylan lined up for the second bin, the kick was perfect and it bounced on the edge and fell into the bin. The crowed let out a roar, the presenter ran over to him and handed him a pile of cash.

"Hey, $1000 is all yours! Only one more, mate..."

The bin was placed 40 metres away, Dylan lined up once again and threw some grass in the air. He took a deep breath in and started his run up, the ball came awkwardly off his shoe and was not on target. Thunder Power ran over and dragged the bin under the ball's trajectory, so it would land inside.

"Oh, guys, I dunno if we can count that?"

Thunder Power nodded furiously and took the microphone from the presenter and walked over to Dylan.

"I think we can!"

Dylan tilted his head, the voice sounded so familiar. The presenter removed her top half of the Thunder Power costume to reveal Kate, Dylan jumped back a little at her presence, a giant grin came over his face.

"Kate..."

She gave him a hug, her smile just as big.

"Hi..."

The presenter took the microphone back from Kate and addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you're a little confused, this isn't Thunder Power, this is Kate, Dylan's partner. Kate says Dylan is the best father and partner in the world and she has asked us to arrange something special for them tonight as they don't get a lot of time together as they're both in the Navy."

An loud "Aww" came for the crowd.

"So, Dylan, you managed to get the last ball in the bin, do you wanna know what your major prize is?"

He nodded with a blank look on his face still confused about what was happening.

"A lifetime of happiness..."

Dylan stared at the presenter not understanding, Kate took a deep breath in and knelt down on one knee.

The crowed gasped, and the presenter held the microphone to Kate's mouth.

"Dylan, I know that I've said that in the past that it's just a piece of paper, but I know now it's much more than that. It's standing in front of our family and friends declaring our ever lasting love together. It's us showing our daughter that there is such a thing as a great relationship and it's me declaring to the world, on national television, that I don't want to be with anyone else but you. I love you so much, you have made my life better in so many ways and I want everyone to know that, so, will you marry me?"

Dylan was gob smacked, it wasn't was he was expecting, he thought he was about to win tickets to the grand final.

He laughed to himself, this was better. He leaned down and pulled Kate towards him and kissed her, the crowd screamed and cheered. The presenter wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm assuming that's a yes!"

Dylan nodded and kissed her again.

"Well folks, how about that! Just don't make the wedding on Grand Final day, yeah? And as a present from both of the clubs here tonight we've upped your prize money to $5000, so you might be able to take sometime off from protecting our boarders and serving our country to enjoy your honeymoon."

Kate hugged him and Dylan shook his hand.

"Thanks so much for being able to make this happen!"

They walked off the oval hand in hand, Dylan scooped her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way and whispered in Kate's ear.

"Well, I guess our secrets out.."

He felt Kate's body tense up.

"Shit! I didn't even think of that! This will be a delayed telecast as home, we should probably give Maxine the heads up!"

Dylan scoffed and shook his head.

"Always thinking about work!"

The next morning they arrived home to a very excited Lia, she lept into Kate's arms as soon as she stepped inside the house.

"Mummy, Daddy I missed you!"

Kate gave her a squeeze and passed her to Dylan.

"Not as much as we miss you!"

"And look, Mummy got you a present signed by your favourite Port player..."

Kate pulled out a scarf signed by Ollie Wines, Lia squealed and wrapped it around her neck.

"Thanks, Mummy!"

Nikki laughed and gave them a hug.

"I don't know how you managed to make her a Port supporter..."

Kate pinched Lia's cheek and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"She's smart like her mother..."

Dylan gave her a friendly whack on the arm.

"Hey, are you saying I'm not smart?"

She gave him a sympathetic look.

"No, babe, you're smart, you're marrying me aren't you?"

Dylan rolled his eyes and wheeled their suitcases to the laundry.

Kate went to walk off, Nikki grabbed her arm stopping her.

"Wait, did you say marry? As in a wedding?"

Kate nodded, this time Nikki let out a squeal.

"Finally, let me see the ring?"

Kate held out her hand, Nikki searched her hand for a ring but there wasn't one, she looked up at Kate confused.

"Ah, Kate, I don't want to alarm you but I think you've lost it…"

"Didn't you watch the game last night?"

"Ah, you're the footy freak not me…"

"Yeah, I wondered why I didn't get a barrage of messaged last night. I umm, I proposed to him..."

Nikki pouted still looking confused..

"So, no ring?"

Dylan walked back into the lounge room.

"Well, not quite... will this one do?"

He pulled out a ring box from his pocket. Nikki jumped up and down on the spot trying to contain her excitement. Kate took it from the palm of his hand.

"How did you know? Did you two set this up?"

Nikki shook her head, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head.

"I wouldn't have been able to keep this a secret."

"Kate, I've had this ring for 5 years, I haven't been joking all this time when I've asked. I have never done a big proposal as I was afraid you'd say no..."

Kate opened the box to reveal a 2ct cushion cut diamond surrounded by 20 point diamonds.

"Dylan, it's beautiful!"

He took it out of the box and placed it on her finger.

"Not as beautiful as you..."

They kissed while Nikki stood there blubbering.

"Aww, you guys!"

A knock on the door interrupted them, Nikki swung open the door trying to compose herself. She froze as she looked up at who was standing at the door.

"Oh, Commander Flynn..."

She looked back at Dylan and Kate who had worried looks on their faces, behind Mike was a stern-looking Maxine, she cleared her throat and stepped in front of Mike.

"Nice to see you two had a good holiday."

Kate approached Maxine, trying to think of an explanation, she knew that she should have given them the heads up seeming they were on national television. Lia pushed past her and ran into Maxine's arms.

"Auntie Max, where's Ryan?"

"Ah, sorry sweetie, he's at home…"

"Can I come over again so we can play battleships?"

"Sure, anytime!"

Maxine placed Lia back on to the ground and focused her attention back on Kate.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to expose everything like that, I'll talk to the Brass..."

Maxine's frown turned into a smile and she let out a laugh.

"It's okay Kate, the Brass are surprisingly fine with it, it seems that it has created a positive light about the Navy, and god knows we know we need positive press."

Kate glanced at Dylan, she assumed there had to be some kind of catch.

"Okay..."

"We have arranged little gathering tonight at the pub, unfortunately Mike and I can't attend but that's why we're here now to say congratulations..."

Kate and Dylan smiled uneasily at each other still not believing there weren't any negative consequences.

"Really? That's so nice, thank you!"

Mike stepped forward and gave Kate an awkward hug and shook Dylan's hand. Maxine and Mike left, Kate shut the door completely confused about what had just happened.

"So ,did I hear correctly that everyone is okay with us being together and on the same ship?"

Dylan let out a laugh.

"That's what I heard!"

Nikki wrapped her arms around them both.

"Navy power couple!"

Later that night they made their way to the pub. They were still hesitant of what had unfolded earlier waiting for some kind of consequence.

The crew cheered as Kate, Dylan and Lia walked in the doors, 2Dads and Charge handed them each a drink. Charge gripped his shoulder.

"You sly dog! You had us fooled!"

2Dads slapped Dylan on the back with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Not me, I knew, didn't I Charge?"

Charge rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"Anyway, you guys! And this is Lia? Your daughter. "

Lia smiled a cheesy grin.

"Hi…"

Change knelt down and ruffled her hair.

"I'm your Uncle Charge…"

He pointed to 2Dads.

"And that's Uncle 2Dads, but make sure you never listen to anything he says…"

She let out a giggle.

"Okay, but why is that Uncle Charge?"

"Ah, I'll tell you when you're older…"

Nikki bounced up behind them sipping on her drink.

"So, when do we start the planning?"

Kate rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Ah, just slow your roll there Nik, just let us be engaged for a minute! Plus, we have to try to get some time off first, I'm not being crash sailed on my wedding day!"

Swain walked up to them holding a tray of champagne.

"I think you guys have pulled off the greatest all time scam!"

Kate grabbed a glass and took a sip.

"Huh?"

"Being so inseparable and fabulous that the Navy just have to agree that you can be on the same ship!"

Dylan took a glass and clinked it with Kate's.

"Yeah, cos spending every other minute together isn't enough! I just have to have my fiancée as my boss!"

Kate gave him a friendly nudge.

"Hey!"

Dylan pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey, you love it, you get to Boss me around at work, and at home..."

Nikki's nudged Kate and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"And the bedroom!"

Kate's jaw nearly hit the floor, she playfully shoved Nikki with her free hand.

"Seriously? I'm never gonna be able to get these slackers to do any work!"

The next morning Dutchy awoke early wanting to do something nice for Kate after her big surprise. He went to the shops and bought ingredients to make an extravagant breakfast for them all. His phone rang as he walked out of the supermarket.

"Dylan Mulholland?"

"Dylan, it's Maxine, I've got some good news, I've found a replacement for Kate, but I can't seem to get in touch with her."

"Oh, yeah, I put her phone on silent, she needs a sleep in."

"That's nice of you, if you're around can you come in and get her contract?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll be right there."

Dylan knocked on Maxine's door and entered.

"Morning Ma'am..."

She smiled and handed him an envelope.

"Thanks, oh and there's some other mail here for Kate, you wanna take that too!"

"Yeah, thanks Ma'am..."

He took the other mail and headed for the door, Maxine called out after him.

"Ah Dylan, actually I wanted to talk to you both but we'll let Kate sleep, can you sit for a moment…"

Dylan was a little confused about Maxine's tone, he sat nervously in front of her.

"So, this positive light you've shone on us, the Brass was to take full advantage of it…"

"Okay…"

"They would like to know if you and Kate would do a story for the paper, like a human interest piece, inside the life of a Navy family…"

Dylan knew that Kate liked to keep her private life private, but the stunt they pulled could have gone a different way.

"Ah, I'm not sure Ma'am, I'd have to speak to Kate, but I guess it wouldn't hurt?!"

"Great! They want to know by this arvo if possible, so just give me a call… Umm, I know they've asked, but I would suggest that you guys go just along with it."

Dylan laughed, typical navy, nothing was ever a 'suggestion'.

"Yeah, sure Ma'am, I'll talk to Kate when I get home."

Dylan drove home with the biggest smile on his face, they no longer had a secret hanging over their heads and they didn't have to lie to their friends and crew mates, their jobs were going back to normal and, he was finally going to marry the woman he loved, everything was perfect.

End of Chapter 10.

I apologise to those who have never heard of, or are familiar with, Australian Rules Football (it's not soccer). Most of this may not have made much sense to you. But just FYI 'Bin it to Win it" is a real game that happens during the break of a Port Adelaide game, and for those who are wondering Thunder Power is also their real mascot, he's hard to explain but essentially he is a lightening bolt shaped character. Googling it will probably be better than me trying to explain, actually, if you Google video search 'bin it to win it Port Adelaide', there will be some footage of the game too.

Xx


	11. Chapter 11

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 11.

Dylan cooked up and extravagant breakfast and placed it onto a tray, he picked up Kate's contract and other mail and placed it beside her plate.

He kicked open the bedroom door, it flung open and slammed against the wall waking Kate. She sat up and stretched her arms in the air yawning, Dylan winced as he sat down on the bed.

"Sorry, I was supposed to gently awaken you with the sweet smell of my cooking, not like a oaf…"

Kate smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"But you're my oaf."

Dylan shimmied himself back on to the bed and sat next to her and presented her the tray of food.

"For my fiancee…"

Kate's eyes lit up seeing the delicious spread of food on the tray, her eyes were drawn to the envelopes next to the plate.

"What are these? Love notes?"

Dylan scoffed knowing she was stirring.

"Ah, no, they're from Navcom."

Kate grabbed the bigger envelope and pulled out the first page, her eyes scanned over the document, Dylan frowned as he watched her face drop a little.

"What's the matter?"

Kate shrugged and slid the page back into the envelope.

"Oh, nothing, it's just my new contract."

She sounded disappointed, Dylan was confused about her tone, he thought that this is what she wanted.

"Yeah, I thought you'd be happy..."

Kate let out a sigh and picked up her fork and started to push the food around on the plate.

"Ah, yeah, I guess I just was getting used to the idea of being back out at sea."

Dylan sat there thinking for a moment, as much as he didn't like the idea of Kate and Mike working together he didn't want her to be unhappy.

"Right, well why don't you stay out there? I'll stay on shore…"

Kate almost choked on her mouthful, she picked up her glass of juice and took a mouthful, she swallowed and moved the tray off her lap and turned to face him.

"Really?"

Dylan smiled and grasped her hand.

"Kate, you've spent the past 6 years on shore looking after Lia and I know it hasn't been easy and now, maybe it's my turn. You deserve to do something you love."

Kate leaned over and kissed him, at this moment she felt like the luckiest woman on earth.

"I love you so much!"

He gave her a friendly shove.

"Yeah, that's why you proposed to me!"

She rolled her eyes and dragged the tray back towards her, she picked up the pile of envelopes and shuffled thought them. She stopped and the third one, her eyes widened reading the senders label and quickly shoved the pile into her drawer. Dylan let out a nervous laugh seeing her reaction.

"What was that?"

Kate shoveled some more food into her mouth trying to buy sometime.

"Oh, umm, just a stupid thing Nikki did for me..."

"Huh?"

"Just wedding stuff, nosey!"

"What? We got engaged 2 days ago…"

"Yeah, you know how she gets…"

Dylan leaned over her and attempted to open the drawer, she playfully shoved him back.

"Hey, don't squash the food! Anyway, why are you so interested?"

Dylan tried not to be offended, he knew it wasn't the norm that guys be excited to help plan the big day, but he wanted to be involved in the happiest day of his life.

"Hey, you know I want to assist with the planning, right?"

Kate felt bad assuming he wasn't interested, Dylan gave her a wink.

"And by that, I mean cake tasting..."

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head. She picked up a piece of toast ad shoved it into his mouth and took another mouthful.

"Mmm, speaking of food, this is yum!"

Dylan scrunched up his face at her surprised tone.

"What, you doubted my cooking abilities?"

Kate scoffed and took another bite.

"Hey, when we first me you were on first terms with all the UberEATS drivers!"

"Yeah, well, I only had myself. But back to this shore posting, if you want to be back out there, I'll take it, I'm serious."

"Dylan, I can't ask you to do that!"

He grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"You're not asking me too…"

Tears started to form in Kate's eyes, she was so touched, it wasn't a surprise, Dylan had always been so good to her, but she didn't want him to resent her for the decision.

"I, I don't want you to be unhappy..."

"Look, Kate, I love my job but it is what it is, it could be a nice change doing some intel work or training, plus, I get to spend more time with Lia..."

Kate winced imagining Dylan trying to manage Lia's tantrums.

"Yeah, like she doesn't already have you wrapped around her little finger!"

Dylan crossed his arms over his chest and put on a stern looking face.

"Well, maybe I'll become the disciplinarian..."

Kate nearly spat her mouthful out at the thought.

"Yeah, sure, and ill stop drinking wine... are you sure?"

He nodded and leaned over and kissed her.

"Yeah, we'll talk to Commander White later... but in the meantime..."

He moved the tray off her lap, Kate frowned and attempted to stab another piece of food with her fork. Dylan moved in front of her with a cheeky smile on his face, she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"You're taking food away from me? You should know that that's not the way to turn me on Petty Officer..."

Dylan laughed and replaced the tray on her lap.

"Yeah, what was I thinking?! So, anyway, are we gonna start the planning?"

Kate shoveled more food into her mouth and laughed.

"Yeah, umm 2025? That ought to be enough time to get us all some leave?"

He took the fork from her hand and waited for her to make eye contact.

"Seriously, Kate, it took 6 years for you to say yes, I'm not waiting another 6..."

Kate snatched the fork back.

"Well, maybe I should take the shore posting, it'll give me time to plan..."

Dylan put on a sad face trying to get her to be more sympathetic to him planning the wedding.

"What you don't trust me?"

Kate glanced up to him doubtfully.

"You want to do it?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Well, why not, I mean, it's basically a big party right?.."

Kate whipped her head to the side and gave him one of her famous glares, anyone who described her wedding as a 'big party' wasn't fit to arrange it.

"And this is why I'm going to arrange it..."

Dylan gave her a friendly nudge with her shoulder, he knew that she liked to be in control, but he really wanted to do this for her, for them.

"Oh, c'mon Kate, give me a chance, plus, wouldn't that make me the world's greatest husband?"

Kate knew he meant well, she let out a hiss giving in.

"Okay, but we discuss venues, theme and I'm not letting you pick my dress..."

The smile grew on his face.

"Deal..."

"Oh, and no Fremantle colours!"

Dylan rolled his eyes and picked up a piece of bacon from the plate.

"Umm, so Maxine mentioned something else…"

Kate snatched the piece of bacon from his hand and shoved it into her mouth.

"Yeah?"

"The powers that be want to know if we would do some kind of human interest piece for the paper, like an inside look at a Navy family, a bit of fluff, I guess…"

Kate's heart raced at the thought, she didn't enjoy being the centre of attention at the best of times, little own it involving her personal life.

"Mmm, I dunno…"

Dylan had already technically said yes but he couldn't let her know that.

"Well, Maxine kind of said that they weren't asking?"

She laughed, she should have guessed.

"Yeah, that'd be right. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt, I'll talk to her about it when I go to talk to her about my posting."

Later that morning Kate headed to Navcom to discuss everything with Maxine, she was nervous, she hadn't really had much to do with Maxine since the day she discovered that Mike and her were together.

Nikki was in the kitchen having a coffee, Dylan came out of the bedroom with a giant grin on his face. Nikki looked up and was immediately suspicious of his Cheshire cat smile.

"What are you smiling about?"

Dylan sat beside her and whispered in her ear.

"I'm in charge of the wedding!"

Nikki choked on her mouthful of coffee, Dylan laughed and handed her a tissue. She dabbed her mouth and cleared her throat.

"What?"

"Kate is going back out to sea, and I'm planning the wedding."

Nikki didn't want to rain on his parade but she needed him to understand the importance and difficulties of planning a wedding.

"Ah, you know how much work that is right?"

Dylan shrugged and flipped though the pile of wedding magazines she had bought.

"I don't mind, I want it to be the best day of her life..."

Nikki grasped his arm and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Awww, you're sweet, but also crazy! But good luck?!"

He grabbed another magazine and opened it.

"So, what do you think of a May wedding?"

Nikki shrugged and took another sip of her coffee.

"Seems smart, gives you a year, enough time for everyone to arrange leave..."

Dylan glanced up at her and smiled.

"Ah, I meant this May..."

Nikki sat there straight faced and swallowed her mouthful and patted his head.

"Aww, you're gonna need help... Dylan, there's no way you're going to be able to plan a wedding in 6 weeks."

"Watch me..."

Nikki loved his confidence, but she didn't think he was taking it seriously.

"What about leave and Kate's dress and, just, everything..."

Dylan shrugged and picked up the magazine again.

"I'll figure it out, remember we're the navy's golden couple..."

Nikki shook her head in disagreement.

"If you're serious about this, we're going to have to get to work…"

Navcom.

Kate nervously knocked on Maxine's door and poked her head in.

"Ma'am?"

Maxine looked up from her computer and smiled.

"Kate, how are you? Haven't seen you for a while, or Lia how is she?"

Kate entered the office and shut the door behind her, she didn't expect Maxine to be so bubbly.

"Ah, yeah, good Ma'am, she talks about Ryan a lot…"

"Yeah, I think he secretly loves her too…"

She sat nervously in front of her.

"Umm…"

Maxine leaned over the desk towards her sensing something was bothering her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Ah, yeah, it's….umm, fine…"

Kate smiled nervously, she hated that she had to keep secrets from her Commander, especially when Maxine did nothing wrong.

Maxine sighed and got up from her chair and walked around her desk and sat next to Kate.

"Kate, it's okay, I know…"

Kate tried not to react, was she talking about her and Mike? Her eyes darted around the room trying to think of something to say.

"You know what, Ma'am?"

Maxine paused for a moment, Kate dared to look her in the eye. Maxine leaned towards her.

"I know it was you, Kate, I know that you were the one who slept with Mike."

Kate swallowed hard, she could feel her heart beat against her chest, her breathing became shallow, she was afraid of how Maxine was going to react.

"Ma'am… I, umm…"

Maxine gave her a reassuring smile.

"Kate, it's in the past, Mike and I have moved on. I'm a little disappointed that he didn't tell me, but I just want you to know that I don't blame you."

It surprised Kate how calm she was about it all.

"Ah, thank you, Ma'am, but can I ask how you knew?"

Maxine let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, I wasn't 100% sure, until now, but lets just call it instinct."

Kate felt the sudden urge to explain, she felt so guilty.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am, if I knew he was…"

Maxine waived her hand in the air dismissing Kate's apology.

"Kate, it's fine, well it's not but, I don't blame you. Look, we're all adults, and it was years ago. Also, I'm not completely innocent in all of this, I'm sure he's aired our secrets, so lets just move on, yeah?"

There was so much Kate wanted to say but thought better of it, she took Maxine's advice and nodded.

"Sounds good, and thank you, Ma'am…"

There was an awkward silence, Maxine got up and returned to her side of the desk.

"Anyway, did Dylan give you the paperwork?"

Kate glanced down and fiddled with the envelope in her lap.

"Ah, yeah, that's what I'm here to talk to you about… Ah, look, I know you're worked really hard to get me this posting but just wondering if there's any chance of Dylan and I swapping?"

Maxine raised and eyebrow and leaned back on her chair.

"Swapping?"

Kate felt terrible asking for a favour after all the drama she had caused, she focused on the floor.

"Ah, yeah, look, I've missed being out at sea, and Dylan has missed a lot of things with Lia being out at sea..."

Maxine understood, she had experienced the same thing.

"I'll see what I can do…"

Kate looked up at her and was surprised at Maxine's answer once again.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I get it, Kate, Navy and family need to work side by side, you guys give up a lot, so we need to try to make it fair."

Kate sat there still a little dumbfounded by Maxine's willingness to help with her request.

"I appreciate it, Ma'am…"

"But I trust that you'll do this media thing for the Brass then…"

Kate still wasn't keen on the idea but she knew it was best to agree.

"Yes, Ma'am…"

Maxine gave her a satisfied nod and opened her laptop.

"Good, shouldn't be a problem then, I'll be in touch about both matters…"

Kate stood from her chair and headed to the door, Maxine called out after her.

"So have you guys picked a date?"

Kate laughed and turned back to face her.

"Ah, so, Dylan is actually in charge of that…"

Maxine raised an eyebrow questioning her sanity, Kate laughed at her expression.

"Yeah, don't ask…"

Maxine laughed and shook her head.

"Well, good luck…"

Kate walked back in her front door and was greeted with a giggling Nikki, Lia and Dylan sitting on the couch looking at Wedding magazines. Kate sat down next to them, Lia crawled on to her lap.

"What are we looking at?"

Lia held up the magazine to her face and pointed to the cakes.

"They all look so yummy, but can you get one in the shape of a Navy boat?"

They all laughed, Nikki whacked Dylan on the arm with a magazine.

"You know, he's actually got good taste…"

Dylan looked offended and playfully shoved her.

"Hey, just cos I'm a bloke…"

Kate leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"So, Maxine is okay with me being out at sea and you staying on shore…"

Dylan wrapped his arm around her.

"That's great…"

Lia swiveled herself around to face Kate.

"So Daddy is staying home?!"

Kate gave her a hug.

"Yeah, won't that be great?"

Lia scrunched up her face and sat there and thought about it for a minute.

"I guess…"

Lia shrugged and leaned into her chest, Kate gave her a kiss on the head.

"You can help Daddy plan the wedding!"

Lia's eyes lit up and turned to Dylan.

"So can I wear a rainbow dress?"

Kate nudged Dylan and laughed.

"Does that fit in with your colour scheme?"

Dylan glanced over to Nikki, Kate noticed their strange exchange.

"What?"

Nikki handed her a magazine and cringed.

"Ah, I wouldn't be worry about a colour scheme, I'd be more worried about the date?"

Kate looked hesitantly over to Dylan.

"Ah, okay?"

Dylan flashed a confident smile.

"May…"

Kate placed a hand on her chest and sighed with relief.

"Oh, I thought you were going to say something crazy like this year…"

Nikki let out a laugh and shoved Dylan.

"See!"

Kate sat there trying to figure out how to put her next sentence delicately, but she couldn't find the words.

"Ah, are you crazy? How are we going to make that work? And why? Do you realise…"

Dylan laughed, she had reacted exactly the way Nikki had, he leaned over and kissed her.

"I've wanted to get you down the aisle for 6 years, Kate, I want to do it ASAP before you get cold feet."

Kate's phone beeped, she got up and fished it out of her handbag and read the message.

"Well, that was quick…"

Another message came though.

"Get together at the pub for the Hammersley crew to meet your new Buffer."

Dylan stood behind her and read the message.

"That's great! You wanna go for dinner beforehand?"

Dylan, Kate, Nikki and Lia entered the pub, Mike, Maxine and Ryan were in the dinning room and waved them over. Kate squeezed Dylan's hand.

"You okay?"

He nodded, and they headed into the dinning room, Lia skipped up to the table and climbed on Ryan's lap.

"Hey!"

He gave her a hug, she stole chip off his plate.

"Mum, Dad, this is Ryan, he's my friend! All my friends think I'm cool cos I have a friend in the 9th grade!"

They all laughed, Kate smiled in Ryan direction.

"Hi Ryan, good to finally meet you, I'm Kate and this is Dylan, thanks for hanging out with her…"

Ryan shrugged and tickled her.

"That's okay, she's pretty funny, for a little kid!"

Lia hopped off his lap and pulled on his arm.

"C'mon, lets go play video games…."

Ryan looked in Maxine's direction for permission, she gave him a nod and they ran off towards the play area. Nikki felt the tension and excused herself to get a round of drinks.

Kate so desperately hoped it wouldn't be awkward, she cleared her throat and turned towards Mike.

"So, I'm assuming that Maxine updated you about our positions?"

"Yeah, I was kind of surprised, but all good…."

There was another silence, Maxine let out a nervous laugh.

"Okay, we've all gotta work together, we can leave the past in the past yeah?"

They all nodded, Nikki returned and placed a try of drinks on the table, Kate picked up a beer and handed it to Maxine.

"Here this might make it easier…"

Maxine laughed and handed one to Mike.

"I think he's the one that needs this!"

Mike laughed and rolled his eyes and took the drink.

"So, Max says you've agreed to this article?"

Dylan nodded and took a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, do you know what kind of questions they'll be asking?"

Neither Kate and Dylan were really comfortable with the situation, particularly as there had been issues lately with the Mike saga. Maxine noticed their uneasy glances.

"I'll try to get the questions so you can prepare, but remember we need to keep it positive and upbeat…"

Kate glanced over to check on Lia, she let out a laugh as she observed Lia bossing Ryan around.

"She really likes Ryan, and he seems great with her…"

Dylan nodded in agreement and took a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, you've got a good one there…"

A sickening feeling came over Kate as she sipped on her drink, what if Lia and Ryan got along so well because they were siblings?

Kate felt the colour drain from her face, Dylan tapped her on the shoulder noticing her pale face.

"Kate, are you okay?'

She snapped her head back to face them, it made her feel more nauseous seeing a worried Mike and Maxine looking back at her.

"Ah, yeah, just not feeling great…"

She needed to go home and open that letter.

"I might have to give tonight a pass…"

Nikki grabbed Kate's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Yeah, I'll come with you…"

"No, stay, it's fine…"

Dylan swallowed the rest of his beer and stood up and squeezed Nikki's shoulder.

"That's my duty, anyway, 2Dads is keen to catch up with you!"

He gave Nikki a wink and helped Kate from her chair, Nikki squeezed Kate's hand as a "good luck" signal.

"I can bring Lia home, I think she's having a good time…"

Kate gave her a halfhearted smile.

"Thanks…"

Kate and Dylan arrived home, Kate went straight up to bed and tucked herself in. Dylan followed a few minutes later and lay next to her and ran his hand over her forehead feeling for a temperature, he leaned in kissed her.

"Where does it hurt? Your fiancee will kiss it better…"

Kate put on a smile and buried her head further into her pillow.

"Just feeling a bit crappy in general…"

"Well, I'll just grab you some water and we can just snuggle…"

"I don't want to ruin your night, go watch your shows or something."

"Nah, it's okay, an early night might do us good?"

Dylan got up to get Kate a glass of water, she knew that she wouldn't be able to open the letter and get over her reaction before he came back, it was going to have to wait.

Kate awoke to Dylan's snoring, she pried his arm off her waist and tried to get out of bed without waking him. She slid her legs around the side of the bed and knelt on the floor in front of the bedside drawers. Dylan snored and turned over, Kate looked over to check if he was still asleep. She slowly opened the bedside drawer, it creaked a little, she stopped afraid it was going to wake him. She tried again, she had it 1/2 way open and her phone rang startling her, she let out a yelp and Dylan awoke and bolted upright.

"Huh? What was that?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh, she closed the drawer and picked up her phone.

"Kate McGregor… Hi, Boss, yeah sure, no problem. See you soon…"

Dylan crawled over to her side of the bed and kissed her.

"Let me guess… time to go?"

She nodded and yawned, he smiled and booped her nose.

"Are you feeling better?"

She stood and headed for the bathroom avoiding his gaze.

"Ah, kind of…"

Dylan rolled out of bed and pulled her towards him.

"Well, I could try to make you feel better…"

He kissed her and smiled a cheeky smile, Kate rolled her eyes and released herself from him grip.

"I only have 45 minutes, and I have to have a shower…"

Dylan ran to the bathroom and stood in the door frame flexing his muscles.

"That's plenty of time…"

Kate shook her head and shoved past him, Dylan remained in the doorway smiling

"I'm not hearing a no?"

She turned and grabbed him by the front of his boxers and pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door.

An hour later Kate ran on board, she was late, she hated being late. She tried to sneak to her cabin without being seen, Mike poked his head out from his cabin scaring her.

"Kate, you nearly missed the boat."

"Yeah, sorry, Sir, I still wasn't umm, feeling so good…"

"Oh, you're okay now?"

"Yeah, not 100% but I'm okay."

"Ah, well, why don't I introduce you to our new Buffer…"

They walked down to the mess where the crew were getting to know their new buffer. Mike knocked on the door frame.

"Everyone playing nice?"

2Dads put on a large innocent grin.

"Of course, Boss!"

"So, ah, Kate McGregor, XO, this is Pete Tomaszewski, our new buffer…"

Pete stood and smiled and shook Kate's hand.

"Ma'am, good to meet you!"

"You too…"

Mike clapped his hands together to get the attention of the crew.

"Ah, alright you lot, get ready to sail…"

The crew cleared out of the room, Kate pulled on Pete's arm.

"Okay, what have they told you? Actually, what has 2Dads told you?"

He laughed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna have to watch out for him aren't I?"

Kate nodded slightly, 2Dads poked his head back into the room.

"Oi, Buff, you coming?"

Pete gave him and nod and headed for the door, he turned before leaving and flashed Kate a smile.

"But not as much as I'm gonna have to watch out for you…"

He gave her a wink and left the room, Kate stood there gob smacked. She lowered herself on to the bench and let out a sigh as she hunched herself over placing her head on the table, it was going to be a long day.

End Chapter 11.

xx


	12. Chapter 12

Love at First Lie

Chapter 12.

Dylan sat at the kitchen bench deep in thought, magazines covered every inch of the bench top. Nikki walked down the stairs yawning and laughed seeing Dylan's work space.

"Wow, you're really taking this seriously, hey?"

Dylan glanced up at her then back down to the magazines.

"What the hell is a bom bon, a bombo, I can't even pronounce it?"

He pointed to the word on the page as Nikki placed herself in the chair next to him, she smirked and placed her hand on his shoulder and laughed.

"A Bomboniere, it's like a gift you give to guests…"

Dylan chucked the magazine back on the bench.

"What? I have to give everyone presents too?"

Nikki laughed and shook her head, poor Dylan, he was in over his head.

"It's nothing huge, like, these days it's something like a candle or a bottle opener with your name and wedding date, something people can have to remember the event."

Dylan slumped his head in his hands in defeat.

"You're going to help me right?"

Nikki gave him a encouraging pat on the back.

"Of course… now, do you want me to take Lia to school so you can continue your research?"

Dylan shoved aside the piles of magazines in front of him and opened his laptop.

"You're a lifesaver!"

Nikki pulled the laptop towards her and opened Google and typed "How to plan a wedding for dummies."

"There, that should get you started…"

She placed the laptop back in front of him and giggled, she headed back upstairs to get Lia ready.

Later that day Dylan's mind was full of wedding info, he rubbed his hands over his face and pushed the laptop away from himself, he needed a break. He walked up the stairs and flopped onto the bed letting out at disgruntled growl. He jolted upright and remembering the envelope that Kate had shoved into the drawer, if it was something Nikki had arranged he wanted it included. He rummaged through the drawer and pulled out the stack of envelopes, he flipped through them looking for anything wedding related. He stopped as he saw one addressed to Kate from 'DNA Labs Australia'.

He frowned as he lowered himself back on to the bed wondering why she would be receiving a letter from such a company, he placed the envelope on the bedside table and stared at it. His eyes were drawn to the photo sitting on the table next to it, it was a family photo of him, Kate and Lia. He didn't want to assume the worst but his heart rate increased as he remembered the petrified look on Kate's face when she told him that she met him the day after Mike broke up with her. He snatched the envelope of the table and turned it over, he wanted to tear it open but resisted the urge. He chucked it back on the table shaking his head in disbelief. He sat there feeling lost, like he was suddenly in a different life, after everything they had been through in the past few weeks he couldn't believe that she had kept this from him, she had lied to his face, over and over. He paced the room shaking his head and muttering to himself, he glanced back at the envelope and kicked the bed.

"Damn it, Kate!"

He violently swung open the wardrobe door and picked up his sea bag and shoved some clothes into it.

He picked up the envelope and swung the bag over his shoulder, he walked downstairs and placed the letter on the kitchen bench and walked out the front door.

Later that afternoon Kate arrived home from patrol, Lia was at school and Nikki was out for the day.

Kate opened the front door and called out for Dylan, but there was no answer. She walked up the stairs looking for him, she poked her head in the bedroom.

"Dylan? You would not believe what the new Buffer said to me today…"

She frowned as she saw the wardrobe door slightly ajar, she went to close it and noticed some of Dylan's clothes missing.

She ran back downstairs and rummaged around her bag for her phone, she dialled his number and held the phone to her ear. She let out a grunt as it went to voice mail, she re-dialled and walked into the kitchen, it went to voice mail again.

"Dylan, where are you? Why is your sea bag gone and..."

Her face dropped as she noticed the envelope sitting on the bench, she slowly approached not wanting it to be what she thought it was. She dropped her arm beside her, the phone falling to the floor, as she saw her worst nightmare sitting in front of her. She lowered herself on to the stool and inhaled sharply as she picked up the envelope, she felt a small wave of relief come over her as she noticed it was unopened. At that moment Nikki came through the front door.

"Hello? Kate? Are you back?"

She walked into the kitchen and placed her bag on the bench, she glanced over Kate's shoulder at the envelope, her eyes scanned the logo.

"Is that?"

Kate sat there in silence staring at the envelope.

"Kate?"

She swallowed and turned her head towards her, Nikki noticed her solemn look.

"Oh, Kate, she's not?"

Kate shook her head, Nikki tilted her head not understanding what her head shake meant.

"So she's?"

Kate shook her head again and ran her hand over the front of the envelope.

"He... he found it..."

Nikki's eyes widened and slid into the chair next to her.

"What?"

"This was in my drawer, I hadn't had the chance to open it..."

"So you've had this for over 24 hours and you haven't opened it?"

She shook her head again.

"He didn't either..."

Nikki immediately snatched the envelope from her grasp and ripped it open. Kate placed her hand on Nikki's stopping her, she wasn't prepared for the answer.

"She has to be his, right? She looks like him, you said it yourself, she has his nose…"

Nikki sighed, she wasn't game enough to answer her. She delicately pulled out the single piece of paper from the envelope, Kate watched as Nikki's eyes skimmed the words, her face expressionless.

"Nik?"

Nikki looked up at her, a smile crossed her face, Kate's eyes lit up and grabbed the piece of paper from her and examined the page for the results. She let out a sigh of relief and clutched the piece of paper to her chest.

"I knew it..."

The smiled disappeared from her face realising that no matter the result Dylan had still seen the envelope and that she had betrayed him.

She grabbed her phone and dialled his number again, it went to voice mail. She tried again and again, he finally answered after the 12th time.

"What?"

Kate was taken a back with his tone, but she knew she deserved it.

"Dylan, please, just talk to me..."

"Talk?! Kate, at this stage I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth, all you've done is lie."

It was true, but she hoped that he wouldn't hang up on her, she had to tell him, she blurted it out.

"She's yours Dylan..."

There was a silence on the end of the phone.

"Dylan?"

"What do you want me to say, Kate? I'm relieved? I'm relieved that I haven't been raising someone else's child for the past 6 years..."

Kate began to sob, the reality had sunk in, she had lied to the love of her life their entire relationship. He didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve him.

"I'm sorry, Dylan. I don't know what else to say."

"Yeah, you've said that a lot in the past couple of weeks, I can't talk to you right now…"

"Wait, where are…"

He hung up the phone, Kate listened to the dial tone for a minute and then slowly placed the phone on the bench. Nikki reached out and placed her hand on Kate's hand.

"What did he say?"

Kate hunched herself over and leaned her head on the bench. Her alarm went off on her phone.

"I've gotta go pick up Lia..."

Nikki stopped the alarm.

"No, look, why don't I go pick her up and take her out for ice cream or something, you just take sometime..."

Kate sat there trying to summon the strength to do anything.

"Thank you..."

Nikki gave her shoulder a squeeze and grabbed her bag and left.

Kate sat there staring at the piece of paper suddenly realising that there was someone else involved in this drama. She grabbed her phone and dialled Mike's number.

"Hi, it's me... you got time for a coffee?"

Kate knocked on Mike's front door and exhaled, she was relieved that she had the answer she wanted, but she now had to deal with the fallout of her selfish actions. Mike opened the door and greeted her with a warm smile, she immediately buster into tears. The smile dropped off his face, he placed a hand on her shoulder ushering her into his house.

"Kate?"

She tried to compose herself but it was no use, the past weeks stress poured out of her, the guilt, the shame, she couldn't stop the tears. Mike only assumed that her tears meant one thing.

"She's mine?"

Kate could only manage the slightest headshake, he led her over to the couch and they sat. He handed her a box of tissues not knowing what he could do to comfort her. A few minutes later she was able to compose herself and tell him what he was dying to hear.

"She's Dylan's..."

Mike couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"That's great news, Kate... but why are you..."

"He found out about the test."

"Oh, how did he react?"

She looked up at him with a frustrated look.

"How do you think?"

She stopped herself, she knew she was taking her anger out on the wrong person.

"Sorry, I just... he's gone, I don't know where, he's packed a bag..."

"I'm sorry, Kate. I don't really know why to say, I don't know how to make you feel better."

"It's okay, I shouldn't feel better, this is my fault."

"Kate, you're a good person, you made a mistake..."

"Yeah, a big one... how could I have been so stupid?"

Mike sighed still not sure what to say.

"You know I really am sorry for walking out that morning, that's not the person I am. I mean, that week scared me, I had no intention of sleeping with you, I thought we could be great friends but when I kissed you, there was a spark."

Kate didn't want to hear it, she put her hand to his face to stop him talking.

"Yeah, but you were also married, Mike..."

"I know, and I must live with the pain I've caused to my family... Look, I can't fix anything, but I'm here to talk..."

She gave him a halfhearted smile and rose from the couch.

"Well, I thought you should know that you're off the hook..."

She walked out the door without looking back.

She sat in her car and leaned her head on the steering wheel. Her phone beeped, she waited a minute, just wanting a moment to herself.

She blindly rummaged through her bag and pulled out her phone, the message was from Nikki.

"Are you okay?"

She closed her eyes, she wasn't okay.

"Are you able to look after Lia for a bit? I think I just need sometime to process everything."

"Yeah, not a problem, what are you doing?."

Kate sighed, she was going to drink till she couldn't remember, it wasn't usually her go to but she didn't want to think, she didn't want to be responsible. She knew that she couldn't tell Nikki that, she would just worry.

"Just taking a breather. Thanks."

She chucked her phone on the passenger seat and drove to the pub and sat in her car, she shook her head realising she would more than likely see one of her crew mates if she were to drink at the local.

She restarted her car and drove up the coast for 40 kilometres or so and spotted a pub on the water. She flipped the mirror down on her visor to check how terrible she looked. She wiped her face and grabbed her bag, she put on some mascara and lip gloss and released her hair from her messy pony tail.

She walked into the pub and scoured the bar for any familiar faces, there weren't any. She stood at the bar and nodded at the bartender and ordered a vodka.

She picked up the glass and wandered over to the outside deck, she sighed and placed herself at a table and looked out over the water.

She downed the glass in one mouthful and winced as the sting of the vodka singed her throat. A few stray tears ran down her cheeks, a waitress approached concerned about her tears.

"Ah, Ma'am? Is everything okay?"

Kate wiped her face and put on a smile and nodded.

"Just one of those days..."

The waitress reached over and grabbed the glass.

"I'll get you another?"

"Thanks..."

Kate looked back over the water thinking about her life and all the mistakes she had made. A voice behind her interrupted her train of thought.

"Haven't seen you around here before..."

Kate closed her eyes, she wished it was Dylan's voice she heard delivering the lame pickup line, she turned to face the man and was about to give him her opinion but she stopped herself as she recognised the man smiling back at her.

"Pete?!"

He sat down at the table looking puzzled at why she was alone and looking so sad.

"What you doing here? This isn't the local watering hole."

She looked back out over the water trying to keep it together.

"Ah, yeah, a change of scenery..."

The waitress returned and placed a glass in front of her and smirked.

"Maybe it's about to get better?"

Kate's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and immediately grabbed the glass.

"Thanks..."

Kate watched as Pete's eyes were drawn to the double vodka in her hand.

"I'd ask if you'd had a rough day, but I was there, or was that a rough day on Hammersley?"

She shrugged and took a sip from her, Pete didn't want to step over the line, he had only known her for 12 hours but he could tell something was wrong.

"Hmm, I don't know you very well, but, I didn't pick you for a double vodka on the rocks kinda gal..."

She shrugged again and swallowed the rest of the glass.

"Yeah, well, it turns out I don't even know myself..."

Kate kicked herself, she didn't want to unload all her problems on Pete, she needed him to trust her, and telling him all her dirty secrets was not the way. She waved her hand in the air dismissing her comment.

"Just ignore me, I'm fine..."

She turned her body in the water's direction hoping that he would leave her alone. She waited for a few minutes and glanced out the corner of her eye and let out a relived sigh, he was gone. She picked up her glass and crunched on a piece of ice, she was startled as another was placed in front of her. She rolled her eyes as Pete re-positioned himself at the table.

"So, as fine as you may be, I'm assuming another drink won't hurt, huh?"

She faked a smile and dragged the glass towards her, Pete took a mouthful of his beer and avoided her direct eye contact.

"So, do you wanna tell me what you're totally fine about?"

She exhaled loudly and spun the glass around in her hands.

"I don't think it's really appropriate..."

Pete cringed and glanced up at her for a split second.

"I hope it's not about my comment earlier, I was just trying to break the ice, you know…"

Kate turned back to face him.

"No, but while we're talking bout it, what did 2Dads say?"

Pete laughed and shook his head thinking about 2Dads childish jokes.

"He just made a joke about you and Dylan and you being like this cougar boss."

Kate sipped on her glass trying to figure out what he meant, by the look on her face Pete could see she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh, because you were his boss and you guys are together, he said that I might need to be careful cos I'd be next on your list."

Pete winced hoping she wasn't going to take it the wrong way, Kate let out a fake laugh, she knew it was just a joke, and he didn't mean any harm.

"Right…"

"Hey, I'm taking it as a compliment, 2Dads described Dylan as, well, like a tough guy, and err, pretty good looking, so I'm thinking I'd be lucky to be next right?"

Pete gave her a playful nudge trying to lighten the mood, Kate let out a laugh, her eyes darted around the deck trying to think of something else to talk about apart from herself. Pete could tell she was still on edge.

"C'mon, Kate, sometimes talking to someone who doesn't know all your business can help, and if you're scared about gossip, I guarantee you that I'm not a gossip."

She looked up at him and thought about it for a second but decided against it and shook her head.

"It's too complicated, Pete..."

"Okay, well, let's get to know each other then, we, more than anyone on this ship need to trust each other, right?"

She leaned back in her chair and took another mouthful and raised her eyebrow.

"Well, what else have people said?"

"What does that matter? I'm asking you the questions now."

"Well, sometimes opinions are swayed by others?"

Pete leaned towards her over the table challenging her perception.

"Oh right, so you've already decided that I'm a sheep? Is that it?"

Kate tried to hide her smile, he was stirring, he reminded her so much of Dylan.

"No, just interested to see what the Navy grapevine has to say."

Pete took a sip of his drink and shrugged.

"Not much, I think they're actually impressed, impressed that you guys were able to hide your relationship and that the Brass were fine with you being together. I think you underestimate 2Dads, he thinks you guys are like, heroes, but anyway, I know you're more than a scandal waiting to happen. So, who is Kate McGregor?"

Kate swallowed her mouthful, who was she? She was a liar, a terrible person, someone who didn't deserve Dylan, but she couldn't say that.

"Ah, I dunno..."

"Well, you're a mum right?"

"Yeah..."

He laughed and nodded towards her drink.

"I guess that explains the drinking?"

She looked down at her drink and swished the ice around the glass.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Pete let out a huff, he hoped he wasn't going to have to drag every answer out of her.

"It's Lia, yeah?"

Kate nodded but still refused to look to him.

"Yeah..."

Pete was frustrated at her lack of communication, parents normally loved bragging about their children.

"So, how long have you and Dylan been together?"

Kate's heart skipped a beat at the mention of their relationship.

"Ah, nearly 6 years.."

"Wow, you guys must have a strong relationship. Navy relationships are hard, little own both of you guys being out there, and on the same ship, how have you not ripped each other a new one?"

She shrugged and finished her glass, Pete wasn't going to let her defeat him, he tried again.

"So, how does Lia cope with you guys being away?"

"Umm, Commander White has been really helpful and umm, actually one of my old ADFA mates has come to stay for a bit..."

"Wait, Commander White, with children?"

"Yeah, she's actually got a son, umm, she's good with her..."

"Cool, I mean kids aren't really my thing, it's not that I don't like them, it's just I'm so bad with ages and relating to them, I always feel awkward around them."

Kate laughed.

"Yeah, I get that, I mean, I wanted a family but hadn't had a lot of interaction with kids, I don't have siblings, but Lia's pretty in your face, there's no time to be awkward. She's super inquisitive and stubborn but also the sweetest kid, she's exactly half of me and half of Dylan..."

She stopped at her own words, it was such a relief to be able to say it and it be true. She couldn't help herself, she burst into tears, but they were relieved tears. Pete was shocked at her reaction, he hoped he hadn't said anything wrong, he didn't know what to do.

"Kate? Is everything okay? I'm sorry, I…"

She wiped her face trying to stop the flow of tears but she couldn't, she got up from the table.

"I'm sorry, I'm just gonna go..."

Pete grabbed her arm stopping her.

"Kate, I'm not gonna let you drive in your state. Look, I'm staying here, and I don't want this to sound weird, but why don't we go to my room and we can talk."

She shook her head and rummaged around her bag for a tissue, Pete picked up a napkin from the table and handed it to her.

"That's an order."

Kate blew her nose and looked up at him.

"I outrank you…"

He rolled his eyes and pulled on her arm, she reluctantly followed. They walked into his room and sat on the couch, Pete handed her some more tissues.

"Look, I get this is weird but there's something bothering you and it really sounds like you need to talk to someone."

Kate blew her nose and tried to tidy herself.

"It's not that I need to talk to someone, it's more that I..."

She stopped herself, was she really going to tell Pete everything? She rubbed her hands over her face trying to think of how to explain without giving all the details.

"I've caused a lot of trouble, I've hurt people, and I can't fix it..."

Pete frowned at her explanation, she didn't seem like the type that liked drama, or that would be the centre of it.

"Okay, maybe I can help come up with an idea of how to fix it?"

She shook her head and looked around the room.

"Have you got a mini bar?"

Pete laughed and got up and looked in the fridge, there was no booze.

"I'll order us a bottle..."

He picked up the phone and called room service, he plonked himself back next to Kate. Kate placed her head in her hands, she couldn't believe that she had divulged as much as she had.

"This isn't appropriate you know, I'm supposed to be your XO."

"What does that matter? You're not supposed to be human?"

"No, but..."

"C'mon Kate, the CO goes on and on about us being a family..."

She glanced over to him and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I noticed..."

"And, if anything, this makes me respect you more. It tells me your human, and you have feelings, that you care. If you were some kind of emotionless Navy robot, I'd be concerned. So, tell me, what kind of trouble could you have caused, from what the navy grapevine says you're a great officer?.."

Kate's leg started to bounce, she was anxious, she needed that drink.

"Umm..."

There was a knock on the door, she lept up and took the vodka from the attendant and poured them a glass and took a large gulp.

"I just, I made some bad decisions..."

She stopped and went to take another mouthful but Pete snatched the glass from her hand.

"Okay, work or personal?"

Kate focused on the floor and cross one leg over the other hoping to stop it twitching.

"Personal."

He nodded and handed her back the glass.

"Okay, that wasn't hard was it?"

She didn't answer and swallowed the contents of the glass.

"I'm a terrible person..."

Pete shook his head at her, he refused to believe it.

"Kate, I guarantee whatever you have done I've probably done worse."

Kate poured herself another drink and immediately swallowed it.

"Yeah, I'm sure you've allowed some to raise a child as their own meanwhile not knowing if they're actually the father..."

Pete froze mid mouthful and swallowed, he tired not to let his reaction to her confession read over his face.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I shouldn't have pushed, I didn't realise that..."

Kate took a deep breath in and took a moment, she couldn't believe she had jus told him her biggest secret. Pete was concerned about her silence, he placed a hand on her arm.

"Kate?"

She turned her head towards him, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's okay, I've caused this, it's my fault. I mean, what did I expect? How could some do that to some they loved?"

She picked up the bottle and paced around the living area, she took a swing from the bottle and swung it around, Pete got up and followed her.

"Kate, you wouldn't have done this on purpose."

She stopped pacing and looked out the window avoiding his eyes.

"But I did, I intentionally kept this to myself."

Pete stood there for a moment wondering whether he should ask the next question in his head, they had come this far.

"Can I ask if you got an answer?"

"Yeah, I did, I got the one I wanted..."

Pete stepped towards her as she started to sway.

"Why do I sense a but?"

He led her back to the couch, she slumped over and rubbed her hands over her face as she started to feel the affects of her previous drinks.

"But, he found out."

He sat back down next to her.

"Oh, so that's why you're drinking?"

She nodded and took another swig from the bottle.

"Yeah, a lot more than normal."

"Kate, I'm probably the last person to give you relationship advice but seeming no one else has, I'm gonna..."

He snatched the bottle from her hand and took a swig, she snatched it back and did the same.

"Okay, I'm just gonna give you the blunt guy advice, okay? Let him figure this out, give him space and time. Us tough guys are just as sensitive as girls, we can be even more stubborn, and we hide it. If you push us, we may say some things we don't mean or we may retaliate in a way that's not, lets say, productive or helpful. I'm a firm believer that you can't force things, as lame as this sounds, if you love him you need to let him go and let him work through it…"

Kate took another swig from the bottle and laid back on the couch.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm scared he won't come back."

Kate turned her head in his direction hoping he had more words of wisdom, but she could tell by his expression that he didn't. She let out a scoff and took another swig.

"Still think I don't look like a double vodka on the rocks kinda gal?"

He took the bottle from her and filled 2 glasses with ice and poured them another.

"Well, I guess it's better than, a sculling vodka from the bottle kinda gal…"

He handed her a glass, she took it from him and clinked hers against his.

"Only just…"

End of Chapter 12.

Please review! xx


	13. Chapter 13

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 13.

The next morning Kate awoke in Pete's hotel room, her head was thumping and she didn't know where she was. She lay awkwardly on the pillow and let out a groan. She felt the bed move next to her and instantly jolted upright worried about who she would find next to her.

"Oh, god..."

She clenched her eyes closed, it was so bright, and everything ached. Pete sat up and rubbed his face and let out a laugh.

"Well, that was umm, an interesting night?"

Kate sat there rubbing her eyes trying to remember the previous night's events.

"Ah, we didn't..."

Pete laughed at Kate's petrified face unsure of whether he should feel offended.

"Seriously? You're telling me 2Dads was right? I was next on your list?"

Kate scoffed and shook her head at herself, why would she even assume that? Although she could just add it to list of terrible things she had done to Dylan.

"Sorry, Pete, I guess my best decisions have never been made on vodka."

Kate grabbed her phone realising she hadn't checked in with Nikki, there were multiple missed calls and messages from her, she immediately called her back.

"Kate, oh my god, are you okay? Where are you? Neither of you came home last night and Lia is asking questions."

Pete let out a groan as he rose from the bed.

"Bloody Grey Goose…"

Kate quickly covered the speaker of the phone but it was too late, Nikki had heard Pete's voice.

"What was that? Where are you? And, who are you with at this time of the morning?"

Nikki heard the noise of someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Oh, Dylan, I didn't hear you come in."

Kate heard Nikki mention Dylan's name.

"He's there? Nik, please tell him to stay, I want to talk to him, I'll be home in 20."

Nikki hung up the phone, Dylan frowned at Nikki's guilty expression.

"Was that Kate?"

"Ah, yeah..."

"Where is she? Who is she with?"

Nikki didn't get an answer from Kate and she didn't want to make things worse, she walked into the kitchen avoiding his questions.

"Umm, no one..."

Dylan didn't believe her and followed her into the kitchen.

"Nikki, I heard you ask, who was that?"

"Dylan, I don't know, she'll be home in 20 minutes, just ask her yourself."

Lia heard her father's voice and sprinted down the stairs.

"Daddy, where did you go? I missed you."

She jumped into his arms, he picked her up and gave her a squeeze. A single tear ran down Dylan's cheek, he was so relieved that she was his, he placed her back onto the ground and wiped it away.

"Go brush your teeth, I'll get us some breakfast..."

15 minutes later Kate burst through the front door, she desperately searched the house for Dylan and found him standing on their bedroom balcony looking out over to the water. She approached slowly not knowing how he was going to react.

"Dylan?"

He didn't acknowledge her presence, she positioned herself next to him and glanced over to him, her heart sank, she could tell he had been crying.

"Why, Kate?"

She hesitated, she didn't have a reason, well not a good enough one to explain why she had hurt him so badly.

"I, I was scared..."

He snapped his head to face her trying to contain his rage.

"Scared... you wanna know what's scary? The thought that you have lied to me every second of every day that we have been together..."

Kate closed her eyes unable to look at his shatter expression, he was right, and there were no words to express how sorry she was. He walked inside and sat on the bed, he focused on the floor trying to gather his thoughts, he was so overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"I can't trust you, and it's killing me."

Kate didn't want to insult him with weak excuses but she needed him to know how much she loved him and why she did what she did.

"Dylan, please, I wasn't thinking straight. You totally took me by surprise, you were kind and so sweet, and I just didn't know what to do. You were so exited when I told you I was pregnant, I was going to tell you that same day I found out, but, that look on your face, that look of sheer joy, I couldn't destroy that."

"Right, so it's my fault?!"

"No, all I'm asking is that you don't see this as an act of maliciousness, it wasn't ever supposed to be that. You were, you are, a wonderful father, and it is the biggest regret of my life. But it worked out, she's yours, it doesn't take away from what I did, but..."

Dylan rubbed his hands over his face, he couldn't shake the fact that there were too many lies in their perfect world. She could see that he was distraught, she didn't want to make it worse.

"I'll be downstairs if you wanna talk…"

She leaned down, her face close to his.

"Just know that I love you so much."

She sighed and left Dylan with his thoughts.

Kate sat in the lounge room feeling lost, Lia came bounding down the stairs.

"Mummy!"

Lia jumped into the couch and lay across Kate's lap.

"Where's Daddy?"

"Ah, he's just upstairs resting…"

Lia tilted her head and rested it in her hand.

"You look sad, Mummy."

Kate put on a smile and lifted her up and sat her on her lap.

"No, Mummy's just tired… You wanna watch a movie?"

Lia nodded and grabbed the remote.

"Can I choose one?"

"Sure…"

As Lia pressed play, Kate's phone rang, she got off the couch and answered.

"Kate McGregor, oh yes, hi, umm… let me check, can I call you back?"

Dylan could hear her from the bedroom, he heard footsteps and sat up on the bed. Kate knocked on the door and cautiously poked her head in the door.

"That was Maxine, I know this is the worst timing, but that journalist wants to come and interview us today…"

Dylan remained laying on the bed, his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

"Do I really have a choice?"

She sat next to him and placed her hand on his.

"Dylan, we don't have to..."

He sat up moving his hand away from her touch.

"Yes, we do, Kate, look, you don't have to worry, I'll put on a smile and say all the right things..."

Kate knew that this could completely crush him, she didn't know what to do. He lay back down on the bed, she took it as a signal to leave.

An hour later there was a knock on the front door, Dylan appeared from upstairs and sighed.

"Let the show begin..."

Kate swung open the door, a bright eyed, perky looking woman stood on the other side with a giant grin on her face.

"Hi! You must be Kate!"

Kate nodded and shook her hand.

"Yes, please, come in."

Steph walked into the house looking around trying to get a feel for them, she spotted Dylan and approached.

"Hi, I'm Steph! It's Dylan, yeah?"

He nodded and shook her hand, Kate smiled nervously waiting for him to crack, Steph turned back to Kate.

"Now where's Cordelia?"

Lia came running down the stairs hearing her name being mentioned.

"Here I am! Hi!"

Steph leaned down and pinched her cheeks and laughed at Lia's adorableness.

"Hi cutie! So guys, I work for the Cairns Post and I'm going to be interviewing you today, I also believe they this story will feature in the Navy Life Newsletter and the Defence Force website, pretty cool, yeah?"

Kate and Dylan put on nervous smiles, Lia jumped up and down with excitement.

"We're gonna be famous!"

Kate cleared her throat.

"Ah, why don't you come in the lounge...would you like anything to drink?"

"Yeah, water would be great!"

Kate went to the kitchen, Steph placed herself on the couch, Lia sat close to her, wanting to be more involved. Kate returned and placed a glass of water in front of her.

"Thanks..."

Kate sat next to Dylan hoping he wouldn't move way from her.

Steph took out her tape recorder, Dylan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Lia's eyes lit up and glanced at the tape recorder.

"What's that?"

"Oh, that so I can record what Mummy and Daddy say later so I can write my story."

"Cool..."

"So, lets get started... First, do you mind if we take some pictures?"

Kate glanced over to Dylan, he nodded.

"So, umm, why don't you two sit close and Lia, why don't you sit on your Dad's lap."

Kate shuffled towards Dylan, he put on a smile as Steph walked around them taking photos. Kate could feel Dylan's body stiffen, she knew he wasn't happy with the situation. Steph finally stopped and took out her notepad and pen and put on her glasses and pressed record.

"Okay, So I'm dying to know everything about the couple that the Navy broke the rules for! I've done a bit of research but tell me about this rule, the non-fraternisation rule..."

Kate cleared her throat to answer, she didn't want to put Dylan under anymore pressure

"Ah, umm, it's generally for people on board the same boat..."

Steph nodded and started to write.

"But you guys have been on the same boat?"

"Yeah, but our superiors knew..."

"Okay, so they broke the rules for you guys? You guys must be one hell of a team?"

Kate placed a hand on Dylan's knee and smiled.

"Ah, yeah, I guess they were desperate, but I think we're pretty good together, we were asked to come up here…"

She smiled and nudged Dylan, he snapped out of his trance.

"Ah, yeah, I think our relationships enables us to work better in boarding situations cos we know each other so well."

Kate smiled at his statement, it may have been insincere but it was nice to hear something complimentary come out of this mouth. Steph pouted and let out a sigh.

"Aww, that's cute, so, tell me how you guys met..."

Kate's heart started to beat faster, she didn't want this subject to be brought up.

"So, umm, I met Dylan at a bar and we bonded, well, actually, no, the opposite, we argued over the football..."

Steph let out a laugh, it wasn't what she was expecting.

"Oh, that's umm, romantic?"

Kate could tell she was being sarcastic, but it was the normal reaction she got when she told the story.

"Yeah, I'm a Port Adelaide supporter and he's a Fremantle supporter. So anyway, we talked, and laughed, and drank, and I remember this part vividly, Port won by a goal and I was jumping around obnoxiously and Dylan had the biggest smile on his face, I said, "Why are you smiling? You lost." And he said "I didn't lose..." and pulled me in for a kiss... it was so corny but also romantic, something out of a movie."

Dylan tilted his head and glanced over to Kate.

"You remember that?"

Kate reached out and placed her hand on his.

"Of course..."

For a moment Kate saw a glimmer of hope, she saw the kindness in his eyes. She turned back to Steph.

"And from that moment I was hooked, but you wanna know the best part?"

Steph nodded eagerly and leaned in.

"What?"

"We had no idea that we were both in Sydney for a Navy training session, when I found out I was mortified. I had always told myself I would never get involved with someone I worked with, but it was okay cos I was from Adelaide and Dylan was from Perth so no harm done. But then I was sitting on the plane and someone needed to get past me…"

Steph sat on the edge of her seat, she slapped her knee with her hand and let out an excited squeal.

"Omg, don't tell me…"

Kate nodded and laughed.

"Yep, it was Dylan, so he sits down next to me, all coy, and he tells me he's just been transferred to my HQ."

Steph let out a laugh and gave Dylan a friendly shove.

"I bet that was your plan all along, huh?"

Dylan had tuned out again, he shook his head slightly to bring him back.

"Ah, yeah, can you just excuse me for a sec? I think I hear my phone."

He ran up the stairs, Kate glanced anxiously at Steph.

"He's umm, not really comfortable which this whole interview thing, he's quite a private person, we both are. Can you just give me a minute?"

Steph nodded, Kate ran up the stairs and found Dylan sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.

"Dylan, we just need to get through this..."

He looked up at her and shook his head.

"That's easy for you to say, Kate..."

She sat down next to him feeling guilty, she couldn't believe she was putting him through this.

"Dylan, you know that I'm sorry..."

He rose from the bed, not wanting to be near her.

"Yeah, sorry that you got caught..."

She inhaled and closed her eyes.

"Please, look, the sooner we get this done, the sooner she'll go."

"I just can't sit down there and listen to this fairy tale that you're painting, when it's nothing like that!"

He paced the room, Kate got up and followed him.

"But it did happen like that, Dylan..."

Kate reached out to touch his shoulder, her spun round angry.

"No, it was all a lie!"

Kate stood there for a moment trying not to crumble, tears streamed from her eyes.

"It wasn't all a lie..."

"Yes, it was!"

Dylan stormed past her out onto the balcony, Kate knew that he was hurt, but now she was getting angry. Even though she had lied, it didn't change how she felt, how they felt for each other in that moment.

"So you're telling me that day you told me you loved me, that was a lie? You being excited to have a baby with me, that was a lie?"

Dylan couldn't answer, he just glared at her.

"I'll tell her you've been crash sailed."

Kate wiped the tears from her face and walked out of the room and shut the door. She walked into the bathroom to try to compose herself, she splashed some water onto her face. She took a deep breath in and put on a smile as she walked down the stairs.

"Sorry, umm, he's been called into work, he's gotta pack and get himself ready..."

"Oh, should we rearrange another time?"

"Ah, we don't get a lot of spare time, are we able to finish by ourselves? You've got the photos and let's face it, I was probably going to do more of the talking, anyway!"

"Sure, I can always give Dylan a call if I need anything from him later. So, I've just been chatting to Lia here, you guys are definitely a Navy family, she tells me her name means daughter of the sea?"

Kate nodded and Lia positioned herself on Kate's lap.

"Yeah, umm , I wanted her name to mean something, it's something that Dylan and I both love so…"

Steph leaned into towards Lia.

"So, you like Mummy and Daddy being in the Navy?"

Lia nodded then stopped looking a little sad.

"Well, it's pretty cool, i love the boats and they get to do cool things and tell really good stories, but I do miss them when they go out to sea…"

Kate gave her a squeeze.

"We miss you too, sweetie… Look, it's not easy, but it's part of the job, we know what we're in for when we sign up."

"Okay, how does it impact your relationship? You guys were just posted on the same boat, who out ranks who?"

"Oh, umm I'm the XO, second in Command and Dylan is my buffer..."

"Buffer?"

"Ah, he's a senior sailor, it's called a Buffer as he's like the buffer between the officers and the younger crew, he also has my back on the boardings."

"Right, So there's never been any issues?"

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, it's not like it's always an issue but I mean, can you imagine being in dangerous situations with your partner, your instincts are bound to take over."

Steph gave Kate an all knowing look.

"Okay, so let me guess, it was Dylan who was protective over you?!"

Kate shrugged not wanting to make him sound like he would overreact.

"Hey, I can't blame him. He's so kind and sweet, and he's the best thing that happened to me, well apart from Lia..."

"That's beautiful, so you guys seem to have everything, right? Great careers, a beautiful family, all thanks to the Navy?"

Kate glanced towards the stairs and sighed.

"Yeah, it seems so."

"Anyway, I know that they wanted this piece light and fluffy but is there anything you dislike?"

Kate was hesitant to answer, she didn't want to say the wrong thing, and it be interpreted badly. Steph could see she was reluctant, she let out a laugh.

"Kate, I'm not going to write anything bad, I just think our readers need some reality, if I write a piece that's all sunshine and rainbows it's not going to feel real."

"I love my job, I guess it's just the time away from my family, I mean Dylan has missed a lot being out at sea but the Navy have been understanding, actually we have technically just swapped positions, I will be out at sea and Dylan will be at home."

"Oh, I thought you said he's just been called in?"

"Ah, yeah, he's got one rotation left..."

"Cool, well is there anything else you'd like to add?"

"Ah, no, but call if you need anything else."

Steph packed away her things and winked at Lia.

"Well, we're hoping to have this up in the next few days…"

"No worries…"

Kate showed Steph to the door and exhaled as she closed the door.

Dylan came down the stairs hearing her leave, Kate noticed his dark expression.

"Ah, Lia, why don't you go and watch TV in the spare room."

She nodded and ran off. Dylan sat on the couch and exhaled.

"So, when is our life story going to be published?"

Kate sat next top him surprised he was talking to her.

"Ah, she said as early as a few days."

They sat there in silence for a moment, Dylan sighed.

"You know what I want to know, is how you could do this to Lia…"

Kate didn't want to ignore the questions, but again she didn't have an answer. Dylan became impatient with her silence.

"So you were okay with her growing up not knowing who her father was?"

"Dylan, you are her father, you always have been."

"But, what if he was her father…"

"But he' not and can we not do this here, she doesn't need to know about…"

"She doesn't need to know her mother is a liar? Kate, that's not a good enough defense, I just don't know how you could keep this to yourself…"

"Dylan, I know this it's the answer you want to hear, but it didn't matter, no, it does matter but, I mean, I don't know how to explain it. You are her father, you have been the best father, I wanted you to be her father. I'm not explaining this very well…"

She rubbed her face as tears started to well in her eyes, she knew what she did was wrong and she understood where Dylan was coming from but she knew that anyway she explained it it wasn't going to be good enough.

"What can I do to try to make us better, to get you to forgive me?"

He rose from the couch and shook his head.

"I dunno, Kate, I'm gonna go for a walk…"

Nikki poked her head out of her room, checking if it was safe. She saw Kate sitting on the couch looking worse for wear.

"Kate? Are you okay?" She sat down next to her and placed her arm around her.

"I don't deserve sympathy Nik, I've caused this…"

Nikki leaned her head on Kate's shoulder.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Do you have a time machine?"

Later that night Kate and Dylan lay in bed, the lights were off and it was dark. They both lay on their back staring up to the ceiling, it was silent. Dylan's mind was full of questions, questions he was too afraid to ask, he cleared his throat.

"I think I need so time alone..."

Kate sighed, she knew today would have pushed him to his limit.

"I'll sleep in the spare room tonight..."

She felt the weight shift in the bed.

"No, I mean, I think I need to take some time... I think I'm gonna stay at a hotel or something for a few nights."

The words shocked her, she didn't expect it to be that. She sat up and turned on the light.

"Dylan, what about Lia? I'm going back out there, you were going to spend time with her..."

"Yeah, and I still will. But just not here..."

Kate's breathing became heavy and shallow, she had done so much to hurt him that there was a possibility that they wouldn't recover. She wanted to beg him to stay, but she remembered Buffers advice, let him go, give him space. She caught her breath and closed her eyes not wanting to let him go.

"If that's what you need then okay, but what are we going to tell Lia?"

"I don't know..."

"Well, how long are you going for? I mean... I..."

She was lost for words, she could feel the tears started to build.

"I don't know, Kate..."

He turned over and exhaled loudly. Kate tried to peer over his shoulder, she didn't know what to do, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to change his mind. She turned off the light and lay there.

"Goodnight, I love you..."

She felt the bed move again and turned on the light. Dylan was standing in front of the wardrobe.

"What are you doing?"

"I just can't lay in this bed with you and pretend…"

He grabbed his bag and packed it full of clothes and headed for the door.

"I'll let you know where I'm staying…"

He left, Kate sat there bewildered at what had just happened, she sobbed as she heard the front door close.

Dylan walked into the local pub and checked himself in, he walked into the room and sat on the bed and let out a sigh. He sat there not wanting to be in a depressive state but he couldn't bring himself out of it.

He headed downstairs and placed himself at the bar, Mike and Maxine spotted him from the dining room, Mike went to get up but Maxine pulled him back to his seat.

"Do we really want to get involved?"

"Max, none of this is his fault…"

"How do you know it's about that? Maybe he's had a rough day..."

Mike raised his eyebrow challenging Maxine's reasoning, she knew he was right, she took another mouthful of her dinner.

"Well, maybe just give him a minute…"

Their eyes were focused on him as he downed his drink in one mouthful. Mike shot a concerned look at Maxine, she rolled her eyes knowing that he wasn't going to leave it alone.

"Just finish your dinner first…"

Mike continued to eat, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Sorry, I didn't even ask you if you were okay?"

Maxine frowned while she took another sip of her drink.

"Huh?"

Mike dragged a chip around his plate feeling a little guilty.

"Well, your kind of on Dylan's side of things in this. I mean, if you want me to just ignore it it will..."

"Mike, this is one of the things that I love about you, you care about your crew. Look, we sorted this out a long time ago, when I've said that I'm also at fault in this I wasn't lying. Look, Dylan is the only one who is truly innocent in all this. We were lucky enough to be able to move on and get things back on track…"

She reached over the table and squeezed his hand and let out a laugh.

"But it does seem that you have a type, blonde, stubborn, someone who out ranks their partner?"

Mike shook his head at her comparison and laughed, she was right.

"You're terrible!"

They looked back over to Dylan who was still swallowing doubles. Mike took the last bite of his steak and picked up his beer.

"I think I'd better go check on him now, before he's passed out…"

Mike cautiously approached and slid into the stool next to him, Dylan swallowed his mouthful and glanced over, he took a moment to register it was Mike. He let out a groan and slammed his glass back on the bar.

"It's not a good time, Boss…"

"I'm not your Boss anymore, Dutchy…"

"Well, it's not a good time either, Mike."

Dylan ordered another drink, Mike got out his wallet and handed the bartender a twenty dollar note.

"I'll get this one…"

Dylan rolled his eyes and pushed his hand away.

"I don't need your pity money…"

Dylan threw a fifty on the counter and picked up his drink and attempted to walk away.

"Dylan, c'mon…"

Mike grabbed his arm, Dylan didn't mean to react, but he was angry, his instincts took over and took a swing towards Mike, it connected with Mike's face and he fell to the ground. Dylan immediately regretted his decision, he had just hit one of his superiors, he panicked and ran out the pub. Mike rose to his feet holding his eye, Maxine ran to his side.

"Mike, what the hell?"

Mike shook his head and chased after him, Maxine stood there confused at his reaction, she called out after him.

"Mike, don't do anything stupid."

Mike was surprised to find Dylan pacing around the car park, he cautiously approached.

"Dylan…"

He jumped hearing his name being called, he turned and exhaled seeing Mike.

"Mike… I'm sorry…"

"Dylan, it's okay, I get it."

The day's events had caught up to him, his frustration, the hurt, the betrayal. He collapsed into a heap on the ground and sobbed, Mike knelt beside him feeling a little awkward.

"What's going on, Dylan? Why are you here drinking yourself stupid?"

He glanced up at Mike trying to compose himself.

"You know why…"

"Yeah, but she's yours, Dylan…"

"She lied to me, Mike, she has lied all this time... I mean, aren't you angry that you could have had another child and not know about it?"

He was a little, but it had turned out for the best, he didn't want to complicate things with his point of view.

"Well, yes, but I don't…"

Dylan shook his head, he thought if anyone would understand it would have been Mike.

"I'm staying here for a few nights…"

"That's not a good idea, there's too much access to angry alcohol. Come on, you can stay with us…"

Dylan wondered if Mike was joking.

"What?"

Mike stood and pulled Dylan to his feet.

"C'mon, let go get your stuff…"

Mike pulled him back into the pub, Maxine ran over to them, she pulled Mike aside.

"What are you doing, he just assaulted you…"

"Max, he needs somewhere to stay, a friend…"

Maxine gripped Mike's arm tighter.

"You want him to stay with us?"

Mike looked back to see Dylan stumbling to the elevator and ran over to him, he called out to Maxine.

"We'll meet you at home…"

Mike helped Dylan to his room to get his things, he fumbled the key out of his pocket and stabbed it towards the lock multiple times, missing it each time. Mike took it from him and opened the door, Dylan flopped onto the bed.

"I hate feeling like this!"

Mike sat next to him.

"You guys will figure it out…"

"I dunno Mike, I don't trust her, and if you don't have trust…"

Mike picked up his bag and pulled Dylan off the bed.

"C'mon, lets go…"

They arrived back at Mike and Maxine's house, Maxine was sitting on the couch and lept up as they entered.

"Mike…"

Dylan had nearly passed out by the time they arrived, Maxine grabbed Dylan's other arm and they led him to the spare room. Maxine whispered behind his back to Mike.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? You've got to work with Kate…"

Mike hadn't really thought about it, all he knew is that Dylan needed help.

"It'll be fine…"

Maxine let out a scoff as they lay Dylan on the bed.

"Famous last words…"

End Chapter 13. xx


	14. Chapter 14

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 14

Dylan awoke to the message tone of his phone, he blindly patted the nightstand for his phone but it wasn't there. He opened one eye and tried to focus, he looked around the room puzzled, this wasn't the room he'd booked at the hotel. He slowly sat up as the thumping in his head increased, he heard his phone beep again. He reached down to the floor and picked it up, it was a message from Kate.

"Are you safe?"

A knock on the door startled him, the door opened slightly, the nights events came rushing back to him, he was at Mike and Maxine's house.

"Dutchy?"

Dylan winced as he heard Mike's voice, this was not an ideal situation. He cleared his throat trying to sound awake.

"Yeah."

Mike opened the door further and stepped inside the room.

"Ah, I know this is strange, but you're welcome to stay as long as you like, if you want."

Dylan rubbed his hands over his face considering the offer, he knew he couldn't go home and staying at a hotel was expensive.

"Ah, yeah, thanks..."

"Umm, not to make things more complicated but am I telling Kate you're here?"

He didn't really want her to know, however he was mad at her for lying, he didn't want to be a hypocrite and lie to her. He spun the phone around in his hand not able to make eye contact with Mike.

"If it comes up, I guess..."

Mike gave him a slight nod.

"Right, well, I've gotta go into NAVCOM today, but Maxine will be here."

Dylan put on a smile, that's all he wanted, an awkward morning of small talk with Maxine. He winced as he shifted in the bed, he looked at his right hand, it was swollen, the night's events came rushing back, he sheepishly brought his eyes up to meet Mike's face and cringed.

"I did that didn't I?"

Mike nodded and headed for the door.

"Yeah, but I get it, I may have done the same if I was in your position."

Mike gave him a reassuring smile and shut the door, he headed out to the kitchen, Maxine handed him his travel mug.

"Play nice!"

He took a sip and laughed.

"I could say the same..."

Maxine raised an eyebrow while she stirred her coffee.

"So, he's staying? What am I supposed to say to him?"

He shrugged while trying to make a quick exit.

"I dunno, just, talk..."

Maxine took a bite of her crumpet and gave him an unimpressed glare, Mike ran back to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and left.

Maxine leaned against the cupboard and held her coffee to her mouth deep in thought, she straightened as she heard the spare room door open. Dylan crept out of the room looking worse for wear, Maxine poured him a cup of coffee and slid it towards him over the bench. He sat and avoided her stare, she leaned on the bench opposite him.

"You want something to eat?"

Dylan placed his cup back on the bench and looked up in her direction.

"This is weird isn't it?"

Maxine nearly choked on her mouthful of coffee not expecting him to bring up the awkwardness.

"Ah, kinda of..."

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry about punching Mike, look, I'm not usually like this and..."

"Dylan, you don't need to explain, we just want you to be safe, so umm, like Mike said, you can stay as long as you like."

He picked up his coffee and took another sip.

"Thanks…"

She turned back to the stove trying to think of a way to raise the topic sensitively.

"Ah, I can give you the rest of the week if you need some time to, ah, gather your thoughts…"

"I'd appreciate that, Ma'am.."

Maxine laughed and handed him a plate of eggs on crumpets.

"I think Maxine will do while you're living here..."

She turned back to the sink to wash up her dishes, she periodically glanced over her shoulder to check on him. Dylan sat there trying not to look depressed, but he had too many thing buzzing around his head, he pushed his food around his plate trying to find the silver lining. Maxine could tell that he was hurting but didn't know if he wanted to discuss it. She pulled a stool towards her and flung the tea towel over her shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Dylan gave her a doubtful look, Maxine was his boss, and technically involved in all of this drama, he didn't know if it was the wisest decision.

Maxine could see he was torn and scooted her chair closer to him.

"Dylan, as weird as this is, you can talk to me…"

He didn't know where to start, he wasn't sure if Mike had told her about the test, he didn't want to cause more trouble.

"I just, how did you forgive him?"

Dylan winced at the way the question came out of his mouth.

"Sorry, Ma'am, I mean, Maxine…"

"No, it's okay, you know everything right?"

Dylan nodded warily, Maxine let out a sigh.

"I mean, this wasn't all on him, I was also at fault… Dylan, it took a lot of time, we went to counselling…"

"So, you got over it?"

She shook her head and removed the tea towel from her shoulder and ran it nervously though her hands.

"No, we moved on. We were told that we had to make a decision, did we still love each other? Did we want to make this work? And if we both answered yes, then there was hope. I know at this stage it feels hopeless, and you're hurting but, you should know if you still love her, and if you don't, then you have your answer."

Dylan spun the coffee cup around in his hands unable to answer the question out loud.

"I know this is going to sound strange coming from me but, how can you look Kate in the eye?"

"As much as I would like to blame someone else, it wasn't her fault, Dylan, she met a guy, she wasn't to know he was married. I don't blame her, so, can I ask what she's done to make you so mad?"

Dylan hesitated, he didn't know how to explain without mentioning the unmentionable topic.

"Ah, she's lied to me, on more than one occasion, and she had so many opportunities to tell me the truth…"

Maxine frowned slightly at his answer, she could tell that he didn't want to get into details but giving in order for her to give him advice she needed him to be more specific. Dylan cleared his throat trying to distract from Maxine's curiosity, but he was also trying to strike up the courage to ask his next question.

"Can, can I ask you something umm, personal, I mean, you don't have to answer but…"

Maxine placed a hand on Dylan's shaking knee trying to get him to feel less anxious.

"What is it, Dylan?"

Dylan took a mouthful of food trying to disguise his unsteady voice, he was scared that she'd guess why he was asking.

"Why did you lie?"

Maxine cringed, she knew he was referring to Ryan's paternity, it wasn't something she usually shared, but she wanted to help, she exhaled and leaned back into her chair.

"A few reasons, but I know now, that none were good enough. Mostly I was scared, and it sounds ridiculous but, it's the truth. There was always a chance that Mike was Ryan's father but I was with Stuart, and I didn't know what to do, loved Stuart, I wanted Ryan to be his…"

Maxine's answer surprised him, it was practically the same as Kate's rationalisation, he thought there might have been more too it but it was that simple.

"So, it didn't matter?"

"Well, of course it did, but I was stupid, and looked where it got me, divorced, and my current husband cheated on me, not that I think he did it purposefully to get back at me, but…"

Maxine was suddenly aware that she had exposed a lot about her personal issues, Dutchy could see that she was uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay, I just, I hope I've helped?"

He nodded sightly, he wanted to tell Maxine the real reason, but he could risk everything but he felt he needed to give her something.

"She lied cos she was scared too..."

Maxine let out a scoff, another thing she and Kate had in common.

"Well, fear does funny things to people, exhibit A..."

"Okay, so how do I "move on" from not trusting her?"

"I guess you've gotta ask yourself, is she worth it? Trust can be earned back, and I don't see Kate as taking this lightly. It's not easy, Dylan, it'll take some time but it can be done, if you want it…"

Dylan nodded and took a few more mouthfuls of his breakfast, it comforted him that someone like Maxine, who seemed to have it all worked out, could have similar issues.

"Thanks, I really appreciate your advice and your hospitality…"

Mike sat in Maxine's office trying to write up his report, he jumped as the door flung open.

"Uncle Mike!"

Lia skipped in and stood at the side of his chair, she peered onto the desk.

"What you doing?"

Mike lifted her up on to his lap and held up the files in front of him.

"Boring adult stuff, what are you doing here? Where's your mum?"

She looked up at him and gasped seeing his blackened eye.

"What happened to your eye? You look like a Panda!"

He laughed trying to think of an answer that didn't involve Dylan, a voice coming from the door interrupted him.

"Yeah, what happened to your eye?"

Kate entered the office and sat at the desk, Mike glanced down at Lia and then back to Kate knowing he couldn't tell her the truth in front of Lia.

"Ah, I'll explain later…"

Kate frowned knowing that the answer probably had something to do with all the drama. She picked up her handbag and handed Lia her iPad and earphones.

"Why don't you watch cartoons, while Uncle Mike and I do some work…"

She grabbed the iPad and nodded, Mike picked her up and placed her on the chair on the other side of the office.

He placed himself back at the desk, Kate sat there staring at Mike waiting for him to explain, Mike's eyes darted around trying to think of a way to explain without bad-mouthing Dylan. Kate could see the uneasy look on his face and became worried.

"Mike…"

"It was an accident…"

Kate knew better than to believe him, she placed her hand on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"An accident?"

Mike focused his attention back on the paperwork trying not to make a big deal of it.

"He was upset, and he'd been drinking…"

Kate's stomach churned, she knew instantly who had inflicted this on him, but she needed to hear it come from his mouth.

"Who, Mike?"

Mike continued to pretend to read the documents in front of him, Kate became impatient and smacked her hand on top of them. Mike took a deep breath in and exhaled sharply.

"Dylan…"

Kate immediately focused on the floor.

"I'm sorry, are, are you pressing charges?"

Mike scrunched up his face, it surprised him that she'd even have to ask.

"No, Kate, of course not, he's hurting, I mean, I'm not going to knock a man while he's down… I just want you to know he's safe…"

She looked up to him, her tears threatening to overflow.

"How do you know? He's obviously been drinking to excess, he assaulted you for goodness sake, and it's all my fault."

Mike scooted the chair around the desk and sat close, he took a deep breath in unsure of how she would react to his news.

"I know he's safe because, umm, he's staying with me…"

Kate snapped her head to face Mike dumbfounded by his confession.

"What?!"

Her voice was so loud that Lia looked up from her iPad, Kate realised she needed to keep calm for Lia's sake and smiled in her direction. Lia shrugged and focused back on her iPad. Mike placed a hand on Kate's shoulder trying to calm her.

"It's okay, Kate.."

Kate exhaled sharply and shook her head in disagreement.

"Mike, it's not, I mean, seriously? You really think that's a good idea?"

He shrugged, genuinely uncertain of the decision.

"Well, at least you know he's safe and, I might be able to talk to him…"

Kate leaned back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair unsure of how to respond.

"I'm sorry for all this, Mike…"

"Hey, don't dump this all on yourself, like they say, it takes 2 to tango…"

Kate let out a scoff at Mike's attempt to make her feel better.

"Yeah, but only one person to stuff it all up."

Back and Maxine and Mike's house, Dylan felt a lot more comfortable being in their house after their talk, Maxine was surprisingly easy to talk to and she made a lot of valid points.

"So, have you guys actually talked?"

"Talked, well, she's apologised over and over and I've just kept telling her I can't trust her, we just keep round in circles."

"Well, it's a fair comment, but if you just keep going over and over it in your head, it's not going to help you."

"I know, but I just don't see a way to move on…"

"Do you still love her?"

Dylan couldn't sit still any longer, he got up and paced the room.

"How can I love her without trusting her?"

"Well, that's something I can't answer…"

"I need to do something, go for a run or something…"

"Your bag is in the spare room…"

Dylan went to walk off, Maxine rose from the couch and pulled on his arm, she could tell he was irritated and didn't want him to make any irrational decisions that he may regret.

"Dylan, just remember forgiving her doesn't mean you're pardoning her actions, or that you're forgetting what happened. It's accepting the reality of what happened, it's not something you do for her, you do it for yourself."

Kate arrived home from NAVCOM and had shut herself in her room trying not to let Lia see her tears. There was a knock on the front door, Kate pulled herself up from the bed and plodded down the stairs. She opened the door ever so slightly trying to see who it was.

"Hello?"

Pete tried to peer through the gap.

"Kate?"

She opened the door wider hearing Pete's voice.

"Pete?"

Pete couldn't help but wince at Kate's appearance, she looked tired and her face was puffy from crying.

"Sorry, I umm, I just wanted to see how you were? You left in such a rush yesterday."

She opened the door wider to let him in.

"It could have gone better…"

"Umm, I can go if you want…"

"No, it's okay, come in…"

They walked over to the couch and sat down, Kate brought her knees up to her chest and wiped her eyes.

"I took your advice and let him go…"

She burst into tears and leaned her head on her knees, Lia came down stairs hearing Kate cry.

"Mummy! Are you okay?"

She ran over to couch but stopped seeing Pete and tilted her head.

"Who are you?"

Kate pulled Lia towards her and kissed the top of her head.

"This is Pete, my new Buffer, Pete, this is Lia…"

Lia jumped up next to Pete and grinned.

"You're Daddy's replacement?"

Pete nodded, Kate watched as his body stiffened as Lia moved closer, she could tell he was uncomfortable. Lia sat inched from him and eyeballed him, she poked him on the arm.

"You better look after my Mummy…"

Pete didn't know what to say, Kate laughed at his panic-stricken face.

"I'm sure he will, Sweetie…"

She hopped off the couch and pulled on his hand.

"Good, so do you wanna see my boats?"

Kate laughed and detached her grip from Pete's hand.

"Ah, maybe a little later, why don't you go play in your room?"

Lia nodded and waved at Pete.

"Bye Buffer!"

Pete exhaled and relaxed his tense body.

"She's terrifying!"

Kate laughed again and gave him a playful shove.

"Yeah, I'd like to think she gets that from me…"

"So umm, where is he?"

"He's umm, staying at a friends… I don't know how I'm going to cope, I mean, he's barley talking to me. How can I make it up to him if he won't ever speak to me?"

"Just let him work though it, Kate, you can't force him to listen, you'll push him further away."

Kate stood from the couch and flicked her hands trying to snap herself out of her mood.

"Let's talk about something else, you're probably sick of my drama! I need a distraction, if I need to give him time, I need to be distracted."

"Umm, why don't you do something with Lia? While you've got some time off?"

"That's a good idea… you wanna come to the park with us?"

"Oh, I dunno, Kate, I'm not really good with kids remember?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not taking no for an answer…"

Kate pulled him to his feet, Lia came bolting down the stairs.

"Are we going to the park?"

Kate laughed and picked her up and balanced her on her hip.

"I thought you were supposed to be in your room!"

Lia pouted and placed her hands on her hips.

"I was on my way!"

She turned to Pete and smiled.

"Are you coming too?"

"Ah, yeah, sure…"

Lia squealed with excitement, Kate put her back on the ground she ran to Pete's side.

"Yay! Can you push me on the swing? Mummy won't push me very high!"

Lia grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.

"Let's go!"

Kate, Pete and Lia walked to the park, as soon as Lia's foot hit the grass she sprinted towards the swings. She stood next to the swing and jumped up and down impatiently.

"C'mon Pete, hurry up!"

Kate giggled.

"You've been summoned!"

Kate sat on the bench watching Pete push Lia on the swing, she laughed as she heard Lia demand that he push her higher and higher. She made her way over to the playground to rescue him, he was already unsure of children and Lia definitely wasn't helping him feel better about them.

Pete gave her one last big push and stood off to the side and leaned against the frame of the swing.

"You've come to take over?"

She let out a scoff.

"You're the one with the muscles, seems like you're doing a pretty good job!"

Lia continued to push her legs in and out to make her go higher.

"He's the best pusher mum!"

Kate gave him a friendly nudge, Pete's eyes were focused behind her, she turned to see what he was looking at, she squinted at the figure standing on the other side of the park.

"Dylan?"

He slowly approached unsure of what was happening.

Lia dug her feet into the bark chips slowing the swing, she lept off before it had stopped and ran into his arms

"Daddy!"

"How's my girl?"

He walked up to Kate and put Lia back on the ground, Pete could feel the tension, he cleared his throat.

"Ah, Dylan? I'm Pete…"

Dylan hesitantly shook his hand.

"Pete?"

Pete suddenly realised what this would have looked like and wanted to imediately clear the air.

"Oh, I'm the Hammersley's new Buffer, your replacement I guess…"

Lia tugged on Dylan's pants.

"It's okay Daddy, he promised he'd look after Mummy…"

He put on a smile and leaned down and gave her a kiss.

"That's good… Ah, I'll see you soon, sweetie…"

Lia hopped back on the swing and waved to Dylan.

"Pete!?"

Pete turned back around and started to push her, Kate ran after Dylan.

"Dylan…"

He kept walking ignoring her, she caught up to him and pulled on his shoulder making him stop. He spun round trying not to unleash his anger.

"What?"

"What was all that?"

He tried to act innocent.

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You eyeballed Pete like he was trying to hit on me or something?"

"Well, it is a bit weird that he's with you and Lia?"

"Why is it weird? He came over to see if I was okay, and well Lia wanted to go to the park."

They were at a standstill, she didn't want to fight, she was just so lost. She didn't want to push him but she was only thinking of Lia, it was only a matter of time before she'd ask what was going on.

"Are you coming home?"

He hesitated, trying to think of Maxine's advice.

"I need more time..."

"I know, and I'm fine with that but Lia's going to start asking questions."

Dylan looked over to Lia, she was the last person he wanted to hurt but he could bring himself to play happy families.

"I can't put a time frame on this, I'll be in touch..."

He walked off before Kate could object, she sighed and returned to the swings where Pete was still pushing Lia. Kate's phone beeped, it was a message from Steph.

"Hey guys, here's a sneak peek of the article, hope you like it!"

Kate's finger hovered over the link, she didn't know if she wanted to read it, it was just going to rub salt into the wound. Pete noticed Kate's apprehensive expression.

"Everything okay?"

Kate took a deep breath in and clicked on the link.

"Give me minute…"

Kate lowered herself onto the swing next to Lia and waited for the page to load. The first thing that appeared was the family photo that Steph took, they looked like the happiest family in the world. Kate quickly scrolled past the photo hoping she could hold it together reading the article. She swallowed hard reading the caption underneath the photo.

"Oh, buoy, aren't they the perfect little crew?"

She took a deep breath in preparing herself for the rest.

_Kate and Dylan are your regular Aussie couple, but recently they exploded into the spotlight after their public proposal went viral. _

_They both currently serve in the Royal Australian Navy and have kindly taken some time out of their busy schedule to talk about their life, love and how they keep it all above board while protecting the country. (There are many more Navy puns, so prepare yourself.) _

_This story wouldn't been so intriguing if it wasn't for the Navy's non- fraternisation rule, this rule means that no one serving on the same ship may be involved with each other. But this couple have proven themselves indispensable after the Navy broke this rule for them._

_Kate McGreogor, Executive Officer of HMAS Hammersley and Dylan Mulholland, Petty Officer of HMAS Hammersley, met 6 years ago in Watson's bay. They fell in love one night over laughter and footy, but unbeknown to them they were both there attending a RAN training week. _

Pete positioned himself next to Kate and glanced over her shoulder.

"Oh…"

Kate snapped back to reality and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

"I can't read it, not now…"

"Do you think he's seen it?"

"Probably, and it's probably made everything worse."

"You need to stay positive, Kate."

Kate rolled her eyes and let out a groan.

"Don't tell me you're one of those glass half full guys?"

Pete shrugged and looked over to Lia.

"I think you need to be, for her sake…"

End Chapter 14.


	15. Chapter 15

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 15.

Back at home Kate sat on the couch starring at her phone, Lia sat next to her playing with her boats, crashing them into each other. She peered over Kate's arm trying to see what she's looking at on her phone.

"What's that?"

Kate shoved the phone into her pocket attempting to hide the article.

"Nothing…"

Lia sat the boats on the couch and ran one into another making it crash on to the ground. She looked up at Kate and gigged.

"That one was an FFV… so, where's Daddy?"

"Ah, he's just out today…"

Kate moved off the couch trying to avoid Lia's questions, but she followed closely behind her.

"Why wasn't he home this morning?"

Kate continued to walk into the kitchen.

"Ah, he went out early for a run…"

Nikki walked though the door distracting Lia, she ran over to Nikki and hugged her leg.

"Auntie Nikki's home!"

"Hey cutie!"

Nikki's smile faded as she saw the distressed expression on Kate's face.

"Kate?"

Kate ushered Lia up the stairs.

"Why don't you put your toys away and we'll make some lunch?"

Lia nodded and ran back up to Nikki.

"You wanna play later?"

Nikki smiled and sat down next to Kate.

"Definitely…"

Lia ran up the stairs to her room. Nikki turned to Kate and wrapped her arm around her sensing she needed a hug.

"Dylan?"

Kate gave a slight nod.

"I was going to message him, Steph sent me a mockup of the article today, it'll be out any day…"

"Well, there's not much you can do though, right? Where's is he?"

"He said he needed time, he's staying with Mike and Maxine…"

Nikki's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

"What?"

Kate lead Nikki to the couch and sat down.

"I don't really know how it happened, but all I know is that he punched Mike, and he's staying with them…"

Nikki grasped Kate's arm stopping her from continuing.

"Ah, he punched Mike?"

Kate nodded and took a deep breath in.

"I just feel so bad for Lia, I don't want to lie to her…"

"Have you told Lia that he's moved out?"

Kate shook her head and glanced up to the stairs to check she wasn't listening.

"No, I don't know how, it's only been a day, and she's asked where he was, I'm hoping he'll be home by the end of the week."

Nikki knew that Kate was hoping for the best however she was afraid she was in complete denial.

"Kate, she's a smart kid, you don't want her to catch you arguing or something, you guys have always been honest with her, I don't think it's a good idea to mess with that now."

Kate knew Nikki was right, but she was worried how it would affect Lia.

"I know, but how am I supposed to give him time and space if I message him with issues in the first 24 hours?"

"Do you want me to go to talk to him?"

"I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Kate, I'm both of your friends, I love Dylan too, and I want what's best for both of you, and what's best is that you get back together."

Nikki got up off the couch, Kate pulled on her arm.

"Nik…"

Nikki shook her head and grabbed her bag refusing to back down.

"Text me the address…"

Nikki pulled up at the address that Kate had sent her, she got out and knocked on the door persistently.

Maxine swung open the door with an aggravated look on her face.

"Yes?"

Nikki wasn't expecting Maxine to be home, she stepped back and cleared her throat.

"Oh, sorry, Ma'am, umm, I was expecting Dylan to answer, I'm…"

"Nikki…"

"Yeah…"

"You're Kate's friend… and XO of HMAS Glenelg?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm also a friend of Dylan's, is he here?"

"Yeah, but I can't guarantee he will talk to you…"

She opened the door and let her in, Dylan was sitting on the couch watching TV. Nikki sat next to him, he glanced over not expecting it to be her.

"Nik?"

"Hey…"

He turned his attention back to the TV.

"What do you want?"

"I want you and Kate back together…"

Dylan let out a scoff and turned the volume up higher, Nikki snatched the remote out of his hand turned it off.

"I know you're hurt…"

He turned his body to face her frustrated that she was trying to empathise.

"Hurt? Nik, do you realise what she did?"

Nikki's eyes widened, she glanced in the direction of the kitchen, where Maxine was tidying up. She lowered her voice and leaned in.

"Does she know?"

"No…"

Dylan's eyes darted back over to Maxine, she looked up and caught he eyes and sensed that they needed a moment alone. She walked into the laundry giving Dylan a slight nod as she passed them. As soon as she was out of ear-shot Nikki leaned back in.

"Look, everything aside, she's worried about Lia, she asked where you were this morning. She gets that you need time, but your daughter's the one that could get hurt in all of this. She just wants to talk, I think she wants to try to explain some of it to Lia."

"I dunno…"

"Dylan, if you're not coming home you need to tell her something, do you want her to think you've just abandoned her? Just come back with me and talk and then I'll bring you back…"

Dylan let out a grunt and rose from the couch.

"Fine, for Lia…"

45 minutes later Nikki dropped Dylan off, she waited in the car to give them some privacy. Dylan stood on Kate's doorstep, the one thing he agreed with was that he didn't want to hide things from Lia, especially as he didn't see an immediate resolution. He knocked a few times, Kate swung open the door, Dylan scrunched up his face at her surprised expression.

"Expecting someone else?"

"No, umm, it's just, why are you knocking?'

He shrugged, he didn't want to start an argument.

"Umm, it doesn't matter…"

He walked into the lounge and sat on the arm-chair opposite Kate.

"Where is she?"

"She's napping, I think she overdid it at the park."

Dylan wanted to keep calm, but he didn't want to make small talk, it felt so fake.

"Okay, so how are we going to do this?"

"Umm, well, I think we just tell her that you're living in a different house for a little while, that the issues we're having are adult issues, and it's nothing to do with her and we both love her."

"You know she's going to ask a million questions."

"I know, but I think we have to be firm, she doesn't need details, she's too young to understand."

Lia ran down the stairs surprising them both.

"Daddy, you're home!"

Dylan put on a smile and squeezed her tight as she ran into his arms.

"Yeah, how are you? I've missed you?"

Lia hopped on to his lap and snuggled into his chest, he kissed her head and sat her up on his lap.

"Ah, so Mummy and I need to talk to you about something?"

Lia's eyes lit up and a giant grin appeared on her face.

"Is it about the wedding?"

Kate's heart skipped a beat, she looked over to Dylan hoping that they could get through this without worrying her too much.

"Ah, no sweetie… look, so Daddy and I are umm... we're..."

Dylan stood up and sat on the couch next to Kate, he placed Lia on the couch in between them.

"Mummy and Daddy are going to be living in separate places for a little while..."

Lia frowned and tilted her head not understanding.

"Why?"

"Umm just some grown up reasons..."

Lia's tiled her head the other way still not understanding, she turned to Kate.

"Were you mean to each other?"

Kate exhaled sharply and tucked the loose strands of Lia's hair behind her ear.

"Ah, it's complicated, Sweetie..."

Lia glanced back and forth between them beginning to get distressed.

"But, you always tell me to forgive people and apologise…"

Kate looked over to Dylan indicating that she'd do the talking, she moved herself closer to Lia.

"Sometimes it takes time to forgive people."

Lia grabbed both of their hands in panic.

"But, you're still in love?"

Kate could see Dylan's heart was breaking, she spun Lia around to face her. She couldn't bear the thought of Lia blaming Dylan for something that was her doing.

"It's not his fault sweetheart, it's mine, and..."

Lia hopped off the couch and stood in front of them, her arms crossed over her chest, tears building in her eyes.

"So, where am I going to live?"

Kate tried to reach for her but she stepped back waiting for an answer.

"Well, you'll spend time with both of us, but while I'm out at sea, you'll be staying with Daddy."

"Where?"

Kate looked over to Dylan for an answer.

"Umm, I'll be getting my own place."

Lia shook her head angrily and ran to the stairs and turned.

"No! I want to stay here!"

She ran up the stairs, they both winced as they heard the door slam. Kate and Dylan sat there not knowing what to do, Kate slowly rose from the couch.

"I'll go talk to her..."

Dylan shook his head and got up from the couch.

"No, I'll do it..."

He walked up the stairs and knocked on Lia's door.

"Lia?"

"Go away!"

Dylan ignored her request and entered and sat on her bed, Lia pulled the covers over her head.

"I said, Go away!"

Dylan peeked under the blanket trying to get her to look at him.

"Lia, sweetie..."

She flung back the covers in a huff.

"Are you getting a divorce?"

The question stunned him, he hesitated for a moment.

"You are!'

She flung the cover back over her head, he tried to pull them back.

"Ah, no, I mean, we're not married, so it's not a divorce, but how do you know that word?"

She sat back up, tears in her eyes.

"My friend, Riley, her parents are getting a divorce and..."

She began to cry, Dylan scooped her up and sat her on his lap.

"It's okay, look, we both love you so much."

Lia looked up at him, her devastated face broke his heart.

"Don't you love Mummy anymore?"

He sighed and held her close.

"It's complicated, sweetie, just remember we both love you so very much."

Lia moved back onto the bed and pulled the blanket back over her face.

"Leave me alone…"

He walked out of her room and headed for the stairs, he glanced into their bedroom and saw Kate crying on the bed, he hated seeing her upset but his other feelings prevented him from consoling her. He sat beside her, Kate turned to face him, her face covered in tears.

"I'm sorry, you have to know I'm sorry..."

Dylan didn't respond to her comment, he couldn't.

"She's pretty upset, I'll call to talk to her before bed…"

He walked out the front door and burst into tears, he waked down the front path trying to compose himself. He got in the car, Nikki focused front and centre not knowing what to say. Dylan wiped his face and put on his seat belt.

"Just drive…"

Nikki nodded and started the car.

She arrived back home and sat next to Kate on the couch.

"So, I'm assuming it didn't go so well? He was silent the entire way back to Mike and Maxine's"

Kate shook her head, she couldn't bring herself to explain. Nikki grabbed her hands trying to give her some kind of strength.

"So, umm, I was planning on heading down to the Gold Coast tomorrow, do you wanna come? Get away for a day?"

Kate shook her head again, she didn't believe that she deserved to get away from the pain she had caused. Nikki sighed and squeezed her hand.

"Kate, c'mon… you can't just sit here on your days off and, look, I'm not taking no for an answer. So get to bed, we're up early in the morning."

Kate awoke the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing, she let out a groan and reached over to the bedside table and dragged it onto the bed and opened one eye and pressed the accept button.

"Kate McGregor…"

Her eyes remained closed praying that it wasn't Mike.

"Kate? Sorry to wake you…"

She scrunched up her facing hearing Mike voice.

"No worries, we're sailing?"

"Yeah, I called you early so that that you could tell Lia, umm, do you want me to wake Dylan?"

"No, you don't need to do that, I'll message him, this is between us."

"Thanks, I'll see you soon…"

She sighed and sat up and opened a new message to Dylan.

"Crash sailed, can you come and get Lia ready for school?"

She dragged herself out of bed and headed for the bathroom, Nikki heard Kate get up and stumbled to Kate's bathroom and stood in the doorway rubbing her eyes.

"Crash sailed?'

Kate nodded as she squeezed the toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"Do you want me to look after Lia?"

"No, go down to the Goldie, it's fine, Dylan can take her to school."

"Are you sure?"

Kate nodded as her mouth was full of toothpaste, her phone beeped, it was Dylan.

"Be there in 15."

She showed Nikki the message and spat into the basin, she wiped her mouth with the hand towel.

"See, all good, you go have a day off, a day off from my drama…"

Nikki gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll bring you back something pretty."

Kate made her way to Lia's room and knocked on the door and poked her head in.

"Lia, sweetie…"

She walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, she placed her hand on Lia's back gently waking her.

"Lia, honey, I've been crash sailed, Daddy is coming over to take you to school."

Lia rolled over and let out a huff, Kate sighed and walked over to the other side of the bed, Lia turned the other way avoiding her.

"I'm not going, I'm not doing anything you say!"

Kate rubbed her hands over her face, she felt like a terrible mother, she didn't blame Lia for being upset but she didn't want Dylan to have to deal with Lia's mood.

"C'mon sweetie, I'm sorry that I have to go to to work right now, I know we need to talk about things, and you're probably really upset with us, but we love you so much."

Lia sat up and flung her blanket back on to the bed.

"If you both love me then why isn't Daddy here?"

Kate closed her eyes hoping the tears wouldn't escape, she didn't want to burden Lia with all her issues.

"They're all grown up issues, okay, Daddy loves you, he's on his way over here to take you to school."

Lia pulled the blanket back over her head, Kate clenched her jaw, she didn't want to get mad, but didn't have time for this, she had to get ready.

"Daddy will be here in 15 minutes…"

Kate closed the door and continued to get herself ready hoping Lia would come round.

A short time later Dylan arrived and knocked on the door, Kate opened it half dressed.

"You don't have to knock, Dylan."

He barley acknowledged her and walked into the house, Kate ran back upstairs stopping herself from continuously apologising.

She ran into Lia's room, she was out of bed and sitting at her dressing table brushing her hair. She knelt next to her and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Daddy is downstairs, I love you, I'll let him know when I'll be home okay?"

Lia refused to respond, Kate exhaled sharply and kissed her again.

"I love you."

Kate gave her a squeeze as a tear ran down her cheek. Kate grabbed her sea bag and ran down the stairs buttoning her shirt, Dylan stood at the kitchen bench preparing breakfast.

"Ah, thanks for this…"

"Well, it was the arrangement…"

Kate hoped that they might have had a whole conversation, but no luck.

"Ah, okay then, I'll message you when I know we'll be back, ah, I assume you'll stay here if I'm gone overnight?"

He barely looked up at her.

"Probably…"

"Umm, okay, I'll talk to you later, Lia's nearly ready."

Lia sat in the car with her arms folded over her chest.

"When are you coming back?"

Dylan glanced over to her and back to the road.

"Ah, I'm not sure, but any time you need me, I'll be there…"

"But I need you all the time…"

Dylan re-gripped the steering wheel trying to compose himself, he hated that Lia was suffering from this.

"You can come over any time you like…"

"But I want you at home…"

He sighed and reached over and held her hand.

"I just can't be at home, not right now, I'm sorry…"

Lia let out a huff and snatched her hand back, she turned and stared out the window.

"Just leave me alone."

End of Chapter 15.

PS, thanks for all the reviews guys! love to you all! xx


	16. Chapter 16

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 16

After dropping Lia to school Dylan headed back home, he walked into his house feeling like a guest. He sat on the couch and looked around the room, he swore the photos were staring back at him, judging him. He headed upstairs and walked into their bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. He ran his hand over Kate's side, he hated to admit it but he missed sleeping next to her, her smell, just being next to her comforted him.

_Flashback._

_A 1 week old Lia lay in between Kate and Dylan on the bed, he propped himself up and supported his head with his hand. The smile grew on his face as he watched Kate admire their precious daughter. Kate looked over to him feeling his eyes on her._

_"She's perfect, isn't she?"_

_He smiled and ran his thumb over her cheek._

_"You're perfect…"_

_She let out a scoff and focused her attention back to Lia, she placed her finger in Lia's tiny hand, she gripped it tight, Dylan wrapped his hand around Kate's._

_"I can't believe we made this, this cute, little, pooping machine…"_

_"I can't believe how good you are at changing nappies…"_

_"Aren't you the luckiest gal in the world?"_

_She nodded and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the lips._

_"Yep…"_

_Dylan continued to gaze in her direction, Kate looked up at him not understanding his puppy eyes._

_"What?"_

_Dylan took a second as he looked into her eyes._

_"Marry me…"_

_She was lost for words, not expecting that to be the words that came out of his mouth, Lia gurgled interrupting them, Kate focused her attention back on to Lia and laughed and tickled her chest._

_"Yeah, Daddy's silly, isn't he?"_

_She glanced back up at him and pouted seeing his mildly offended expression._

_"What?"_

_"I'm serious… I love you, you love me, we have Lia…"_

_"How are we supposed to plan a wedding while in the Navy, everyone's schedules are different, you get crash sailed all the time. It's just a piece of paper, it doesn't change the way I feel about you."_

_"I guess…"_

_She kissed him again trying not to make him feel rejected._

_"Plus, have you ever planned a wedding? It's a nightmare, not worth the stress."_

_He sat there not buying her excuse._

_"It's cos I'm a Dockers supporter, isn't it?"_

_She smirked and gave him a slight shove._

_"It doesn't help."_

_End of Flashback._

He sighed and lay his head on the pillow, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. He awoke a few hours later, disturbed by his phone, he looked at the clock, it was just after lunch. He pulled his phone from his pocket and frowned not recognising the number.

"Dylan Mulholland…"

"Mr Mulholland, this is Grace Howard, Lia's principal, I'm afraid we've had a bit of an incident and I need you to come in."

He bolted upright worried by the word 'incident'.

"Is everything okay?"

"Lia is fine, she's just had a bit of trouble with another student, I've also called their parents in."

"Okay, I'm on my way…"

Dylan rushed into the school grounds and into the front office, he approached the desk.

"Ah, hi, I'm Dylan Mulholland, Principal Howard called…"

The receptionist typed on her computer and looked back up to Dylan.

"Ah, yes, go in…"

Dylan knocked on the door and entered the office. He was faced with Principal Howard, Lia, another girl and a man that he assumed was the other girl's father. Principal Howard stood from her desk and shook his hand.

"Hi, Dylan, I'm Grace, please come in…"

Dylan sat down next to Lia trying to make eye contact with her.

"Dylan, this is Riley Smith and her father Dave."

Dylan acknowledged them with a nod.

"So, what's this all about?"

Grace folded her arms on the desk and leaned towards them.

"So, the girls had a bit of an argument, and Lia supposedly shoved Riley to the ground."

Dylan snapped his head towards Lia expecting her to deny the allegation, but instead, she sat there tight-lipped with her eyes firmly focused on the ground.

"Lia?"

She quickly looked up at him and then back to the ground, Dylan knelt beside her trying to get her to look at him.

"Lia, is this true?"

She nodded ever so slightly, he placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Why would you do that? You know better than to push someone, you could have injured her."

Lia folded her arms over her chest and looked over to Riley and then back to Dylan.

"She said that you and Mummy would never get back together..."

Dylan's eyes widened, he glanced up to Grace and then toward Dave feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Ah, can we just have the girls wait outside for a moment?"

Grace nodded and ushered the girls into the reception area.

She sat back down at her desk, Dylan cleared his throat.

"Look, it's no excuse for her behaviour, but yes, at the moment Lia's mother and I are living apart. We only told her last night, and she obviously hasn't taken it very well and her mum had to sail this morning, so we haven't really had a chance to deal with it. But, can I ask why Riley would say something like that?"

Dave shifted in his seat, he was just as uncomfortable as Dylan.

"Yeah, umm, Riley's mother and I are getting a divorce, it's been in the works for a while."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

Principal Howard let out a sigh, she sympathised with them both, but there were rules.

"Dylan, the issue is we have a zero tolerance for violence."

"Principal Howard, look, I'm all about the rules, I'm in the Navy, but she's not a violent person, she's not a troublemaker. Her mother being out at sea at the moment isn't helping, but in this case I don't believe that suspending her or expelling her is going to help."

"I know, Dylan, but..."

"Please, I'm about to start a new job, I can't take any more time off, there's no one that can look after her..."

Dave cleared his throat interjecting.

"Look, these girls are normally friends, how about we have a stern talk to them, my daughter is in the wrong too."

Grace sat there thinking about it.

"Okay, but only because they've never been trouble before, Lia has apologised and we'll move on, but if there's any more trouble..."

Dylan nodded and stood from the chair and shook her hand.

"There won't be!"

He turned and shook Dave's hand.

"Thanks..."

They left the office and stood in front of their respective children who were looking ashamed. Grace popped her head out the door.

"Okay you two, back to class."

Lia and Riley ran back to their classroom, Dylan and Dave walked awkwardly down the corridor, Dave cleared his throat in a in attempt to break the silence.

"So, did your wife cheat on you too?"

Dylan tried to prevent the shock reading on his face from his blunt question, Dave laughed at Dutchy's expression and pat him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, it's my warped sense of humour, it's how I deal with it..."

Dylan forced a smile and nodded trying to think of a way to respond.

"Ah, no, she didn't cheat, it's just complicated...".

"All good, I get it, it's always complicated and you don't wanna talk about it. Hey, I don't blame you..."

"Oh, umm no, it just is..."

Dave pat him on the back trying to get him to lighten up.

"So, umm, you wanna grab a beer or something, no point going back to work..."

"Ah, sure, I'm on leave, anyway..."

"Cool, meet you at the pub then..."

Dylan walked into the pub and stopped just inside the entrance, he wasn't sure why he agreed to meet a stranger. He was about to turn and leave when he heard his name being called. Dave was sitting on the deck with 2 beers, he headed out to the deck and sat opposite Dave.

"Hey..."

"Thought you might have bailed…"

"Ah…"

Dave laughed, he could tell Dylan thought the situation was weird.

"It's okay, I get that this seems strange, how come when you're a kid it's so much less awkward to make new friends…"

Dylan scoffed and picked up his beer and took a sip.

"Yeah, it's a lot easier to make friends on the playground."

"Yeah and you find out who your friends really are when you get a divorce…"

Dylan felt a little sorry for Dave, he obviously needed someone to talk to and his friends had abandoned him.

"Sorry mate, that sucks… Umm, so, thanks for going into bat of Lia today, I don't know what I would have done if she had been suspended."

"No probs, I probably would have got the blame if Riley had been suspended too. Her mum's away and she doesn't think I can handle it. But anyway, don't wanna talk about her, so you're in the Navy?"

Dylan nodded as he sipped on his beer.

"Yeah, Kate is out at sea and I've just taken a shore posting…"

"Yeah, cool, must make it a bit easier if you're in the middle of a separation, the ocean between you, that's a big enough area, right? Are you guys married?"

"Well, no, engaged…"

"So, basically yes, trust me if you can settle things out of court it'll be easier, and cheaper…"

Hearing Dave talking about divorce made Dylan's heart race, he wasn't sure if it meant that he wanted to forgive Kate.

"Well, I'm not sure if it will go that far…"

"So, the issue is forgivable?"

Dylan shrugged still not sure about how much he wanted to tell.

"I dunno, someone told me that forgiveness is my choice, that it doesn't excuse the other person but you need to choose if you want to move on, if the relationship is worth it."

"I guess, but would you forgive someone cheating on you?"

"Probably not, but I guess it depends on the circumstances."

"Yeah, well, her excuses weren't good enough, not for me anyway. I wanted to stay for Riley's sake but we just argued, and I decided I didn't want my kid to grow up in that environment, she deserves to see a good relationship, even if that means her parents aren't together."

Dave swallowed the rest of his beer and stood from the table.

"Another?"

Dylan shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good…"

Dave headed to the bar leaving Dylan with his thoughts, he didn't want to be bitter about the situation, he was the one that needed to decide. Dave had a point about his kids growing up seeing their parents fight all the time. Kate hadn't cheated, but it was the same theme, trust. He was so torn by the situation, Maxine made some valid points but so had Dave. He was startled as Dave slapped the paper down in front of him.

"Ah, what's this?"

Dylan looked down at the paper, his heart sank seeing the article, seeing the photo of his perfect family staring back at him. He picked up the paper and sighed as he read the article, he shook his head and pushed it aside.

"Yeah, that's another story…"

Dave pulled the paper towards him and scanned the story.

"I don't get it, this sounds like you're the perfect couple…"

Dylan leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, it's more about the publicity, and the bullshit…"

Dave continued to read.

"Wow, she proposed to you at the footy? Normally I would say she's a keeper…"

Dylan snatched the paper away from him and chucked it on to a neighbouring table.

"Yeah, well, that's yet to be decided…"

Dave could tell he had hit a sore spot.

"So, you guys did this before you hit the rough patch then?"

Dylan shook his head and waved over a waitress, he needed that second drink if he was going to explain.

"Nope, we just put on a show, it was just easier to go along with it for work and stuff."

"That sucks, at least my break up will be private…"

Kate sat in her cabin trying to concentrate on her paperwork, she needed to focus on something other than her crumbling personal life. A knock on her door interrupted her train of thought, she threw her pen onto the desk and called out.

"Come in…"

2Dads poked his head in the cabin.

"Ma'am?"

"2Dads, what can I do for you?"

He stepped in the cabin with a large grin on his face.

"You're famous!"

He flung the paper on to her desk.

"Can I get an autograph?"

Kate looked down at the paper, the smile dropped off her face as she saw the article, she didn't expect it to be published so fast. 2Dads noticed her odd expression hoping that he hadn't disturbed her.

"Ma'am?"

"Sorry, yeah, I guess I just don't enjoy being the centre of attention."

"Well, it's pretty cool if you ask me, it's on the Defense Force website too!"

He picked up the paper and smiled at the photo.

"Look at Lia's face, she's so excited! You wanna keep this copy?"

"Ah, yeah, sure…"

She shoved it aside and picked up her pen hoping 2Dads would take the hint that she was busy.

"Umm, well I'll let you get back to it, Ma'am…"

She gave him a halfhearted smiled and a nod, he left the cabin. Kate placed her pen back down and ran her hand over her face, she wondered whether Dylan had seen it. There was another knock on the door, she sighed and put on another smile.

"Come in…"

Mike sat down next to her and noticed the paper, his eyes widened seeing the article unsure if she'd want to discuss it.

"It's a nice photo…"

Kate shook her head and placed the paper in her top drawer.

"I should never have gone through with it, how is he?"

"I haven't talked to him much, haven't really had the chance, but Maxine says she had a bit of a talk to him. "

"Oh, great…"

"Kate, believe it or not she doesn't have an issue with you, she doesn't blame you…"

"She doesn't know about the test does she?"

"No, but she's Dylan's, so I didn't think I needed to bring it up. Look, she's not one to gossip, but she says she just told him what our counsellor told us."

"And what was that?"

"He needs to decide if he wants to forgive you, if he still wants to be a part of the relationship, for himself."

Kate sighed, she was so afraid of the answer, and it worried her that he was taking so long to decide if he loved her or not.

Later that day Dylan picked up Lia from school, the car ride home was silent. He pulled into the driveway and she got out the car and slammed the door, she stormed into the house and stomped up the stairs. Dylan followed her shaking his head, he felt bad, but he was sick of her teenage mood.

"Hey, what's with the attitude…"

Lia ignored him and sat on her bed, he sat next to her.

"Lia, you have never been in trouble at school and I talked to Riley's dad today, he said you guys were friends."

"Yeah, but she was being mean…"

"Well, that doesn't mean you shove her, your mum and I raised you better than that…"

"Why are you getting a divorce?"

"I told you the other day, we're not getting a divorce…"

"Yeah, but Riley says that her dad moved out, and then they fight all the time and they're getting a divorce. That's what you and mummy are doing, she said her mum cheated on her dad, is that what happened?"

"No, sweetie, look, it's not anything for you to worry about. It's between your Mum and I. But look, sometimes grown-ups break up, and it's never because of the kids, it's not your fault. Riley's parents have a different situation to us, it's sad that her parents are breaking up but…"

"So, you guys aren't breaking up?"

Dylan rubbed his hands over his face, he wished that he had an answer for her.

"I don't know, sweetie, I'm sorry. I know that this must be very confusing and hurtful, but instead of lashing out at people you need to talk to us okay?"

She nodded and lay on her bed, he leaned down and kissed her on her forehead.

"Okay, I'm going to go get dinner ready… I haven't heard from your mum yet so I'll probably stay the night."

Lia sat up and smirked.

Dylan lay on the couch, he couldn't bare to sleep in their bed, not after seeing the article and it reopening wounds. He was immediately awake as he heard the front door unlock, Kate turned on the light and was startled to see Dylan on the couch.

"Oh, Dylan, sorry, I expected you to be in bed."

"Yeah, umm, I couldn't sleep."

He rose from the couch as Kate placed her belongings on the kitchen bench.

"You didn't call…"

"Yeah, sorry, we had a crazy evening, I hope I didn't ruin any plans…"

He hated that she was still caring, it was so much easier to be mad if he couldn't stand the sight of her.

"I, umm made spaghetti, there's leftovers in the fridge."

"You're a lifesaver, I'm starving…"

She opened the fridge and took out the container and placed it in the microwave. Dylan got up and sat at the kitchen bench.

"Umm, Lia got into trouble at school today."

Kate nearly dropped the plate she was holding.

"What?"

"Yeah, umm, she pushed her friend.."

"What? She's never been violent."

"Yeah, apparently she was defending us…"

"How? Why?"

"Umm, her friend, Riley, her parents are getting a divorce and she said to Lia that we were never getting back together."

"Oh my god, is she okay?"

"Yeah, I talked to her but I don't know what to tell her, I just keep saying that we love her and this has nothing to do with her."

"Yeah, I know, me too… so, is her friend right?"

He didn't respond, she knew she shouldn't push, but it was eating away at her.

"It's just, this is killing me!"

Dylan didn't want to to yell, but he was sick of Kate talking about how hurt she was when she was the one who was at fault.

"I know Kate, it's killing me to, you have lied to me over and over. It's killing me that I'm not here with my daughter, and it's all because of you."

Lia came running down the stairs.

"Daddy stop yelling!"

She ran into Kate's arms and started to cry.

"Lia, it's okay…"

Dylan threw his hands in the air and headed for the door.

"Great, now I'm the bad guy…"

He turned to leave, Kate put Lia back on the ground and chased after him.

"Dylan, wait!"

He refused to stop and walked out the front door. Kate picked Lia up again and carried her over to the couch and sat down, she rocked her back and forth in her arms trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, it'll be okay…"

Lia buried her head into Kate's chest and shook her head.

"Daddy lied, you are getting a divorce."

Kate couldn't deny it, every time she thought they were getting somewhere it backfired on her. She sat there and rocked Lia until she fell asleep, she carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed. She sat on the edge and watched her for a moment.

"I'm sorry…"

Kate sat at the kitchen bench pushing her spaghetti around the plate, Pete's words swirled around her head, if you love him you need to let him go. She loved him, so much, she couldn't believe how much pain she had caused him.

Nikki walked though the door carrying multiple shopping bags.

"Mmm, what smells good?"

She walked up behind Kate and slapped her on the back.

"You can't have cooked that if it smells so good."

Kate gave her a halfhearted smile barely looking up from her plate.

"Yeah, Dylan cooked it…"

"Oh, so he was here?"

"He was looking after Lia…"

Nikki grabbed a fork and sat next to her and took a mouthful.

"So, have you made any progress?"

Kate shook her head and sighed.

"No, but I think I've got an idea about how I can help…"

"Really? How?"

"Ah, I really just need to talk to him…"

Nikki tried to make eye contact with her, she knew something was up when she didn't look her in the eye.

"Kate, don't do anything you'll regret! Please do me a favour and sleep on it!"

Kate nodded and slid the plate over to Nikki.

"Here, I'm not that hungry anyway, I'm going to bed…"

Nikki gave her a hug and shook her head as she watched her walk up the stairs.

End Chapter 16.

xx


	17. Chapter 17

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 17

Kate knocked on Mike and Maxine's door hoping that Dylan was the only one home. Dylan sat on the couch ignoring the knocks, he wasn't in the mood for unexpected visitors. The knocking became more persistent, he let out a huff and got up and opened the door. He flinched a little, not expecting it to be Kate on the doorstep.

"Kate?"

Her eyes were firmly fixated on the ground.

"I don't wanna fight, but can we just talk for a minute?"

Her eyes darted up to his face in time to see him nod, he opened the door wider and let her into the house. Kate wandered into the lounge room looking for any signs of Mike and Maxine.

"Are they here?"

Dylan shook his head as he followed her into the lounge, she wondered around aimlessly.

"It's weird you're staying here…"

Dylan frowned a little, Kate suddenly realised that her comment could have come off judgmental.

"Oh, sorry, I'm not judging, it's just, it _is_ weird…"

The stood there in silence for a moment, Dylan's patience wore thin.

"Kate, what do you want?"

"Well..."

She sat on the couch and picked at her cuticles, it was harder than she thought.

"I just wanted to talk to you about, well, us..."

She looked up at him waiting for a reaction but his face was blank.

"I know that you're the one who asked for time, and you're the one that should be coming to me to talk. I know I shouldn't be pushing, and I'm not, but, I just, I want to, I dunno…"

Dylan didn't have the faintest clue as to what her point was, he could tell she was nervous, she would ramble when she was nervous. She pulled on his arm.

"Can you just sit, please…"

Dylan obliged and sat, she shifted closer to him trying to get him to understand her seriousness.

"I love you, Dylan, and I know I've hurt you, badly, really badly. You didn't deserve any of this, I don't think you've ever done anything to hurt me, in fact, every moment of sadness I have ever felt has been short lived because you have always made me feel better. So…"

She spun her engagement ring around her finger and slid it off and placed it on to the table.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, and I don't want you to take me back because of Lia, I know you would do just about anything for her and…"

Kate's eyes overflowed with tears, her voice trembled with guilt.

"I'm sorry, I'm not doing this for sympathy, I'm doing this for you. I don't want Lia to see you as the bad person who decided not to take me back. I figure this is the one thing I can do for you. I will always love you, Dylan, but this is on me…"

Dylan sat there trying to comprehend what was happening, he didn't know what to say. But suddenly he was mad, this wasn't her decision, it should be his. He knew that deep down that he still cared for her, he was so mad because after everything he still felt so much for her. He stood from the couch trying to contain his rage.

"Wait a minute…"

Kate jumped at the tone of his voice, he stood in front of her, she braced herself for whatever was about to be unleashed.

"You don't get to decide this! Don't you understand? I'm so mad because I can't stop loving you! You have hurt me, crushed me, but I still love you, and I hate that."

Kate didn't know whether to be happy that he was telling her he still loved her, or upset because he was in pain because he loved her. She stood to meet his eyes, she couldn't bear to look at them for more than a second.

"I know, Dylan, that's why I'm doing this…"

"So, you're just fine to walk away?"

"No! This wasn't an easy decision! You think I want to live my life without you? Do you think I want to tell my daughter it's my fault that her father isn't around? I will have to live with this the rest of my life, no matter what."

In that moment Dylan understood Maxine's advice, forgiveness was for himself. Kate would never feel any less guilty if he forgave her, he needed to do it for himself. It wasn't something that could be done in a moment, it would take time, but he knew what it would have taken for Kate to do this.

He let out a scoff and stared at her, Kate scrunched up her face not understanding his reaction.

"I can't believe you're yelling at me…"

Kate froze, she couldn't believe it either.

"Sorry… Umm, I'll just go…"

She ran to the door and left before he could react, he sat back on the couch, he wasn't sure why he didn't go after her, but he knew he still needed more time.

Later that afternoon Dylan met Dave at the pub, he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk but he knew being around someone who sympathised would be easier.

Dylan had finished his first beer when Dave arrived.

"Hey, Dylan, good to see you mate…"

Dylan barely looked up to greet him.

"Hey…"

Dave could tell that something was wrong, Dylan looked agitated.

"What's up?"

He spun the glass around in his hands, he didn't really want to say it, saying it made it real, and then if saying it made him feel the way he did then did it mean he still loved her and wanted it to work? He was so confused.

"She ended it today…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it shouldn't have been her call, she's the one who stuffed up."

Dylan shrugged and swallowed the rest of his beer.

"Well, it didn't stop her…"

"So, she did cheat?"

He shook his head.

"No, but, I'm the one who needed time, she said she was letting me go, that she didn't deserve me. I don't know why I'm so mad, if I wanted to forgive her wouldn't I have done that already?"

Dave rolled his eyes and gave him a pat on the back.

"Your mad because she took the power back, that's what they're best at doing, in the meantime making you look like the asshole. Trust me mate, you're better off, you'll feel so much better, eventually…"

"Well, I don't…"

Dave waved over a waiter and ordered 2 more beers.

"Well, more beer will definitely make you feel better…"

7 beers in Mike walked into the pub looking for Dylan, he was worried that he wasn't answering his calls and he hadn't come home. He spotted Dylan and Dave at the bar with 2 women, he frowned and cautiously approached.

"Dutchy?"

Dylan spun round nearly losing his balance.

"Boss!"

Dylan's upbeat mood was an immediate warning sign for Mike, he glanced at Dave and their lady friends.

"Made some new friends have we?"

Dylan swallowed the rest of his glass and wrapped his arms around Dave and the ladies.

"Oh yeah, this is Dave, he's umm, Riley's dad…"

Dave shook Mike's hand.

"Hi, and these beautiful ladies are Penny and Hannah…"

Mike smiled politely and pulled on Dylan's arm.

"Ah, can we have a chat?"

"Yeah…"

He grabbed another beer of the bar, Mike pulled him over to the corner of the pub out of the other's ear shot.

"What is going on, Dutchy? It doesn't exactly look like you're trying to resolve things with Kate…"

Dylan scuffed his shoe along the carpet not able to meet Mike's judging glare.

"Well, I don't need to, she's decided for me…"

Mike gripped his arm tighter not believing what he was saying.

"What?"

He snatched his arm from Mike's grip.

"She ended it…"

"I don't believe you…"

"She said and I quote, she doesn't deserve my forgiveness and she was doing it for me."

"Dylan, you know you're supposed to be together…"

"No, I don't boss, because the person I'm supposed to be with wouldn't lie to me!"

Mike knew it was pointless arguing with a drunk Dutchy but he needed him to hear it.

"Well, this isn't the solution!"

He rolled his eyes and headed for the bar.

"Maybe it is…"

Mike shook his head and pulled him back.

"Don't do it, Dutchy, this isn't you…"

"Mike, this isn't your business."

"Well, it is, you're staying at my house, I feel responsible for you…"

"Easy fixed, I'll move out tomorrow, cos I'm celebrating tonight."

He shrugged off his grip and headed back to the bar, Mike shook his head and left.

The next morning Dylan awoke in a hotel room, his mouth tasted of stale beer and his clothes were flung all over the room. He maneuvered himself onto the edge of the bed and supported his head in his hands. He felt the bed move and slowly turned his head, petrified of what he would see. He cringed as he saw a woman lying in his bed in her underwear, he suddenly felt sick, he immediately got up from the bed and opened the door.

He found Dave lying on the couch with another woman. He tip toed to the kitchenette and poured himself a glass of water, Dave rose from the couch and groaned.

"What a night, hey?"

Dylan couldn't comment, he couldn't remember anything from the previous night.

"Ah, yeah, what time is it?"

"I dunno, like midday? So, did she make you feel any better?"

Dylan sculled the glass of water trying to remember anything.

"You old dog… I'll tell you what, she certainly made me feel better…"

He gave Dylan a wink and a nudge and walked off to the bathroom.

He made his way back to the bedroom, he didn't want to be an asshole, but he just wanted everyone gone. He opened the door to find the woman getting dressed.

"Oh, umm, sorry…"

"Oh, that's okay, umm…"

Dylan sat on the bed trying to think of a non jerky way of asking her to leave.

"So, last night…"

She sat on the bed and put on her shoes.

"Don't worry, I'm not expecting breakfast in bed…"

"Yeah, sorry, I don't really remember anything…"

She scooted next to him and laughed.

"Dylan, it's okay… but can I say one thing…"

He nodded and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Talk to her…"

"Huh?"

She laughed and got up off the bed.

"Dylan, nothing happened, you spent the night talking about your ex and your daughter, then you passed out…"

"But, you were in your underwear…"

"Yeah, sleeping in clothes is uncomfortable, and I wasn't going to sleep out there, with them…"

Dylan exhaled with relief and ran his hands over his face.

"Thank god, oh sorry, no offence!"

"None taken, you know it's nice to know there're guys out there that still have morals, even when drunk."

She finished dressing and left the room, Dylan sat there with his thoughts, maybe there was hope, when he thought he had slept with her it made him feel ill even though Kate had let him go.

He walked out into the lounge room and found Dave sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch.

"Bit early isn't it mate?"

He shrugged.

"Hair of the dog! Never hurt anyone…"

"Where's, umm…"

"Hannah?"

"Yeah…"

"She left, I'm gonna catch up with her later though, what about you and…"

He shook his head.

"Nah, it's umm, too soon…"

"I don't get you mate, she left you, why shouldn't you have some fun?"

"It's not that simple between Kate and I, I still think that we can…"

"Dylan, you need to let it go! You've never told me what happened, but she hurt you, right? And now she's the one that's gone and dumped you, I don't get how you're not furious, you don't want to get back at her?"

Dylan frowned, he didn't want to be as bitter as Dave was describing, he and Kate had their problems but he wouldn't ever want to hurt her on purpose.

"Ah, I'm gonna head back to Mike's…"

"To get your stuff? You said last night that you were leaving."

"Shit, umm, yeah I guess I better go get my stuff then…"

"I'll be here if you wanna hang out…"

"Yeah, cool, I'll see you later!"

He headed for the door, Dave called out after him.

"Don't go and see her, she's not worth it…"

Dylan sat in his car trying to decide what to do, his heart ached for Lia and Kate but he still wasn't ready to forgive her.

He sat out the front of Mike and Maxine's house trying to work up the courage to go in. He wasn't sure what he had said to Mike, but he still felt guilty, Mike and Maxine had tried to help him and he had spat in their face. He noticed there weren't any cars in the driveway and got out the car, he opened the front door and called out to them, there was no answer. He gathered up his things and left a note on the kitchen bench thanking them.

He drove around and ended up at his house, Kate's car was in the driveway, he shook his head and headed back to the hotel room.

He opened the door and Dave was still sitting on the couch.

"You're still here…"

"Yeah, day off, hope you don't mind the company, better than an empty house, yeah?"

Dylan smiled and sat down next to him. Dave's phone beeped, he took it out of his pocket, he read the text message and violently threw his phone onto the other couch.

"Bitch!"

"The ex?"

"Yeah, she wants to pick up Riley tonight for a family dinner, god, why is she the one who makes the calls."

"Well, can't you say no?"

"Yeah, but then I'm the bad guy not letting her be with her new family."

"Sorry, mate…"

"She goes on and on about stability and routine and she's the one who's changing it…"

"Well, maybe you should get some kind of agreement? Like a contract…"

"Yeah, court costs money, Dylan…"

"Look, you said it yourself, you don't want to look like the bad guy, just make sure you get the time back, and make sure she knows you're doing her a favour…"

Dave rolled his eyes and poured himself and Dylan a drink.

"Yeah, good idea…"

He picked up his phone and sent a message back.

"You picking up Lia today?"

"Ah, yeah I guess, I might message Kate actually."

"Well, why don't you take some of your own advice, why don't you tell her not ask her?"

Dylan picked up his phone and hesitated and typed a message.

"I'll pick Lia up today…"

He waited for a reply.

"No, it's okay, I'll do it, I'd like to spend sometime with her. Hope that's okay?"

Dave peered over his shoulder and read the response and rolled his eyes.

"Phht…"

"What? She's asked if it's okay?"

"Don't you see that's just the way they manipulate you, she's the one that should be begging you. She's got the power but only implying that you have it, she's only asking after she's basically said no."

"It's okay Dave, she's pretty reasonable…"

"Yeah, okay, well don't make me say I told you so…"

Dylan knew Dave was only looking out for his best interests but he needed to sort this out himself, he needed clear his head.

"Ah, I'm gonna go for a run…"

Dave held up the bottle of scotch and smirked.

"I'll be here…"

End Chapter 17.

Please let me know what you think! xx


	18. Chapter 18

Okay guys,

We're nearly at the end.

But first, I haven't written an appreciation post lately and I'm sure they're all starting to sound the same, but I really do value all the feedback that you guys give! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! Kisses!

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 18.

Dylan walked down towards the water and along the jetty, he stopped at the end and leaned against the railing. He dug out Kate's ring from his pocket and clenched it in his fist, he let out a growl and heaved his arm back and attempted to throw it as far as he could. He let out a sigh as he released his fist and exposed the ring, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

As he wiped the stray tears that fell from his eyes he heard footsteps approach behind him, he turned his head slightly as they stood next to him.

"Pete?"

"Hey..."

Pete smiled and leaned on the railing trying to act as casual as possible.

"So, everything okay? You're not going to jump are you?"

Dylan flashed a fake smile knowing that he was only trying to lighten the mood.

"Ah, not yet…"

"You okay?"

Dylan looked over to Pete, he could see he was genuine in his concern.

"You know everything, don't you?"

Pete nodded reluctantly.

"I'm not going to try to talk you into anything, but sometimes you need to hear it from someone not so close to the situation. She loves you, Dylan, like, end of the world, love."

"I know…"

There was silence for a moment.

"But, she let me go…"

Pete winced, he hoped she hadn't taken his advice to literally.

"Oh, Dylan, I… I told her to give you time, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, she said she was letting me off the hook, that it was on her… it's so like her…"

"So, you're just letting her let you go?"

Dylan glanced over to Pete and back out to the water.

_Flashback._

_Kate bounced Lia on her knee trying to soothe her. _

_"C'mon, sweetie, it's okay..."_

_Dylan could see Kate was struggling and took Lia from her, raising her in the air he zoomed her around the room, she stopped crying and giggled. Kate stood up with her hands on her hips._

_"Dylan, you can't do that, what am I supposed to do when you're not here?"_

_Dylan stopped at Kate's aggravated tone._

_"Ah, I was just trying to help."_

_Kate took Lia back and stomped up the stairs, Dylan cautiously followed._

_Kate lay Lia in her cot and rubbed her belly, her eyes started to give in, Kate reached over and turned on the white noise machine._

_Dylan stood behind her wandering whether he should confront her about her attitude, he stepped forward and whispered._

_"Is everything okay?"_

_Kate shook her head and walked out of the room pulling on his arm._

_"Shh, you'll wake her."_

_She gently closed the door and walked back down the stairs ignoring his as he followed closely._

_"Kate..."_

_She walked into the kitchen and turned on the kettle._

_"Kate!"_

_She spun round, arms crossed over her chest._

_"What?"_

_He rubbed his hand up and down her arm as a signal to her that he wasn't tying to pick a fight._

_"What is going on with you?!"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You seem mad at me."_

_She turned back around and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard._

_"Well, I don't know what you're talking about..."_

_"Really? That tone in your voice says otherwise."_

_She let out a huff as she unraveled the tea bag from the string._

_"You need to stop proposing to me..."_

_Dylan's brow furrowed, it wasn't the reason he was expecting._

_"What?"_

_"Dylan, you know where I stand on this!"_

_She scowled in his direction, he let out a chuckle, he knew this wasn't the real reason for her attitude._

_"I think I know what's going on here..."_

_He wrapped his arms around Kate's waist, she attempted to wiggle out of it but it only made him grip tighter._

_"And what's that?"_

_"You're trying to pick a fight..."_

_She released herself and grabbed the cup and headed to the lounge room._

_"Why would I do that?"_

_He followed her closely not giving in._

_"Cos I'm back out at sea..."_

_"So?"_

_She placed the cup on the table and plonked herself on the couch, he sat beside her and placed a hand on her knee._

_"Kate?"_

_She let out a huff and threw her hands in the air proclaiming her innocence. _

_"What?"_

_"You're picking a fight with me…"_

_She raised an eyebrow daring him to finish his explanation._

_"Why would I do that?"_

_He shifted himself closer to her and grasped her hand._

_"Cos I'm leaving tomorrow…"_

_The harsh expression dropped off her face and she focused on the floor knowing she was caught out._

_"I've just become so accustomed to you being here..."_

_He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze._

_"While we're admitting things, tell me, why are you always saying 'no'?"_

_He flashed her a cheeky smile, she glared at him in response indicating it wasn't the time to be joking around._

_"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood, you'll be fine..."_

_She sighed and leaned her head against his chest._

_"Yeah, but, it's just, I'm sorry, I'm scared..."_

_He moved away trying to make eye contact with her._

_"Scared? Why would you be scared to marry me?"_

_"No, scared about you going back out there…"_

_"What? Why?"_

_She leaned on him again avoiding his concerned filled eyes._

_"What if I can't do this?"_

_"What?"_

_"Be a good mother..."_

_He squeezed her again, he did not understand what would make her feel like this._

_"Kate, why on earth would you think you'd be a bad mother?"_

_She shrugged not really wanting to answer._

_"I'm sorry, don't worry, can you forgive me?"_

_She looked up at him thankful that he was such a good guy._

_"Kate, there's nothing you could do that I would never forgive..."_

_Kate smiled and snuggled into his embrace._

_"Dylan, you re the best thing that has ever happened to me, I just want you to know that..."_

_He smiled and kissed her on the head. _

_"I know..."_

_She gave him a playful shove and shook her head._

_End of Flashback._

Later that day Kate arrived to pick up Lia, she walked into the school and paused as she heard her name being called. She turned and spotted a woman running towards her.

"Hi, Kate?"

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Sandra, Riley's Mum, I'm not sure if you heard but our daughters had a bit of a run in…"

"Oh, yes, I'm so sorry about that. We certainly didn't teach Lia to solve her problems with violence. It's just, umm, her father and I are going through a bit of a rough patch and…"

"It's okay Kate, I wasn't exactly thrilled, but Riley hasn't been the perfect angel we raised either, umm, my husband, well ex husband now, we're going though a divorce…"

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, it hasn't really been civil, I hoped that Riley wouldn't be caught in the middle of it but aren't they always? But anyway, I hope the girls can work things out, apparently they were friends before. See that's how much this divorce has distracted me, I don't even know who my daughters friends are…"

"Hey, I'm guilty too…"

"Yes, you are…"

They both turned hearing the voice behind them, Sandra frowned as she saw the voice's owner.

"Dave, what are you doing here? I said I was picking up Riley today…"

"Yeah, I know, you didn't really give me a choice did you?"

Kate felt a little awkward being a part of the conversation, she squeezed Sandra's arm.

"I'll just leave you two…"

Dave stepped towards them.

"That's right, walk away, you're good at that aren't you…"

Kate turned back to face him confused why she was the one copping the attitude.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, just so easy for you to walk away…"

Kate looked over to Sandra who looked just as confused.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but I know you, Dylan has told me all about you…"

Sandra stepped in between Kate and Dave trying to diffuse the situation.

"Dave, what are you doing? You're mad at us, not at Kate, her issues are none of your business…"

He scoffed and shook his head as he moved Sandra aside, staring straight at Kate.

"Not my business? My friend is hurting because of you… you women stick together don't you, no matter how many people you hurt…"

Sandra and Kate knew the conversation would not be productive and went to walk away.

"Hey!"

Dave yelled as he pulled a gun from his back pocket, his hand shook as he held it beside him.

Kate and Sandra froze as they turned back around and spotted the gun, Kate glanced up at the clock, it was five past three, the girls would finish class any second. They all jumped as the school bell rang and Riley and Lia came running out of their classroom and ran to their mothers' sides.

Kate immediately stepped in front of Lia, Principal Howard came out of her office and saw Dave with the gun.

"Ah, Mr Smith, what seems to be the problem?"

While Dave was distracted Kate slowly pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it to Lia, she mouthed to her.

"Text Dad…"

Lia stood behind Kate and sent a message to Dylan.

"911, school."

She replaced the phone back in Kate's back pocket. Grace raised her hands in the air letting him know she wasn't a threat.

"Dave, I think you just need to think about what you're doing right now…"

"I don't have a problem with you principal, I just need to have a chat with my wife and Kate here…"

She continued to side step towards Kate and Sandra with her hands raised.

"Ah, okay, well, why don't we do it away from all the children, okay?"

"Get them out of here then!"

Grace ushered all the kids out of the hallway in to the nearby classrooms, she went to grab Lia and Riley but Dave pointed the gun at her.

"No, they stay, they need to see and hear this…"

Sandra gave Grace a nod, she retreated into a classroom, Sandra stepped towards Dave trying to reason with him.

"Dave, what are you doing? I can smell the booze on you! Just think about what you're doing!"

"I am! I'm taking back the power…"

"You're scaring your daughter, Dave, have you thought about the consequences?"

"Can't be any worse than what I have now…"

Kate felt her phone vibrate, she attempted to take it from her back pocket without Dave noticing, but his eyes focused on her as soon as she moved.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, sorry, my phone is ringing…"

"Give it to me…"

Kate took her phone from her back pocket and handed it to Dave, he looked at the caller ID, it was Dylan, he answered the call.

"Dylan…"

Dylan frowned hearing Dave's voice, he looked at his phone's screen checking that he had called the right number.

"Dave, why are you answering Kate's phone?"

"Just trying to help you out, mate…"

"Dave, what is going on? Where are you? Where are Kate and Lia?"

"Oh, we're down at the school, why don't you come down and we can find out some truths, huh?"

He hung up the phone and chucked the phone in Kate's direction.

"He's on his way…"

Kate scrambled to pick it up while still shielding Lia.

"Dave, I don't know what I've done to…."

"Oh, you know what you've done, Kate, he's a good guy, he loves you and you treat him like crap…"

"Dave, please, can you let the kids go? They don't need to be here…"

"Yes, they do, they need to see how you treat us, how we're not the bad guys…"

Riley separated from her mother, Sandra desperately tried to pull her back.

"Daddy, I'm scared…"

Dave knelt on the floor with his arms outstretched.

"Riley, sweetie, it's okay… why don't you come give me a hug?"

She shook her head too scared to move, Sandra pulled her back towards her.

"See, Dave, you're scaring them…"

The police had surrounded the school. Dylan pulled up and jumped out of the car, a police officer approached and stopped him.

"Sorry, Sir, we're not letting anyone in there, there's a possible hostage situation."

"Yeah, I know, I know the guy, he called me, please, I think I can get through to him…"

"Wait here… I'll get my Sergeant."

Dylan waited a minute until the officer was out of sight and ran towards the school. He knocked on the door and called out.

"Dave, it's Dylan, what's going on, mate?"

Dave made his way to the door still aiming the gun at Kate and Sandra and unlocked it and let him in, he slammed the door behind him and locked it again.

"Dylan, you're just in time, maybe we'll get some real answers now!"

"What are you doing? Is this really necessary?"

"Yes! Of course it is, don't you wanna know who's fault this was? Huh? Don't you want your kid to know who's fault it is?"

"Dave, this is not the way, you know this, you're scaring the kids..."

"Yeah, but at least they'll know it's their mother's fault not ours…"

Dylan looked over to Kate then back to Dave.

"Dave, c'mon, you don't want to be doing this..."

He tried to step toward Kate and Lia, Dave pointed the gun in Dylan's direction.

"What are you doing? I thought you were on my side?"

Dylan held up his hands trying to calm the situation.

"Dave, I'm just trying to see if my daughter is okay, isn't that what everyone wants? Our kids to be okay?"

He took Dave's silence as an agreement to his question, he cautiously took another step towards Kate and Lia, his eyes darted back and forth from Dave to them.

"Are you okay?"

Kate nodded.

"How do you know this guy?"

Dave re-aimed the gun in their direction.

"Don't listen to her Dylan, she'll suck you in."

"Dave, look, we can talk about all of this, I'm sure your wife would be happy to sit down and talk to you, right?"

Sandra nodded but Dave shook his head.

"No! She's a liar, just like Kate, right?"

Dylan glanced at Kate hoping that she knew that Dave was exaggerating.

"Dylan?"

Kate knew she needed to shut this down, Dave was unstable and unpredictable, she pulled Dylan back and stepped towards Dave.

"Dave, you're right, I am a liar, and I've admitted to being in the wrong. This is all my fault, and I don't want the power, Dylan knows that..."

Dave smiled a satisfied yet evil grin and aimed the gun at Kate.

"See, Dylan, it's all her fault..."

Dylan shook his head reached out for Kate's hand, she smiled and grasped it tight.

"I know, Dave, she admitted it, so can we all just calm down, why don't you put the gun down?"

He shook his head and continued to aim the gun in Kate's direction.

"She's brainwashed you! You should be mad! Why are you taking her side? I thought we were friends?"

Dylan stepped in front of Kate protecting her, she desperately pulled on his arm not wanting Dylan to do something crazy.

"Dave, I'm sorry for what happened between you and your wife, but we're not the same, Kate has admitted her mistakes and I want to forgive her."

Kate's heart skipped a beat, he felt her squeeze his hand and turned his head towards her.

"Really?"

He nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I love you…"

Dave let out a hiss and interrupted their moment.

"No, how can you be so blind? They're all the same!"

Dylan turned back to Dave trying to think of something that would diffuse the situation.

"Dave, don't you see, we're proof that everything can work out…"

Dave aimed the gun at Dylan, his finger hovered over the trigger, Dylan froze and held his breath.

"Dave, c'mon, like you said, we're mates…"

Dave scrunched up his face and wiped the sweat from his brow shaking his head.

"Don't you get it? I'm saving you from the pain…"

They all held their breath as his finger pulled back on the trigger, Kate panicked and shoved Dylan out the way. The bullet struck her in the chest and she fell to the ground with a thud. Dylan looked around wondering who had pushed him to the ground, he checked himself for a bullet wound but was surprised to find he was okay. He glanced beside him and noticed Kate lying on the floor in a pool of blood, he scrambled to her side fearing the worst.

"No! Kate! Can you hear me?"

He sat there cradling her body, Lia clung to his arm crying and hiding behind him. Dave walked up to them and aimed the gun at Dylan's head, at that moment the police stormed the building guns raised.

"Police! Put the gun down!"

Dave held his hands in the air and dropped the gun.

Dylan lay Kate on the ground holding his hands over the wound, he felt Lia pull on his arm, in his panic he had forgotten she was there. He couldn't let her see any more than she had. He grabbed her hand and looked up to Sandra .

"Can you get Lia out of here, please?.."

Lia shook her head and knelt beside Kate shaking her, attempting to wake her.

"Mummy, wake up! Please?"

Sandra walked over to Lia and scooped her up in her arms.

"C'mon sweetie, Mummy will be fine..."

Lia struggled against Sandra's grip.

"No, I want to stay with Mummy…"

Dylan was torn between comforting Lia and staying with Kate.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie, you go with Sandra and Riley. Mummy will be okay, I'm going to help her…"

Sandra had a firm grip of Lia a Police Officer ushered them out of the building.

Dylan sat on the ground holding Kate's hand as the paramedics worked on her, he held her hand to his cheek.

"Kate, please be okay, I forgive you, I love you..."

End Chapter 18.

x


	19. Chapter 19

Love at First Lie.

Chapter 19.

1 week later.

The sun shone in through the blind waking Dylan, he opened one eye feeling something digging into his side, it was Lia's foot. They had both been through an ordeal and she had cried almost every night since the shooting, so he had let her sleep in the bed with him. He didn't know who it comforted more, him or her. He pushed the hair away from her face and smiled, thinking of how much she reminded him of Kate. He lifted his head slightly, trying to check the time, it was only a few minutes before the alarm was due to sound, he rubbed her arm to wake her.

"Lia, it's time to get up…"

She let out a groan and turned over.

"No, Daddy, I'm tired."

"I know, but you need to get up…"

He leaned down and kissed her on her head and he got up from the bed and walked into her room. He opened her wardrobe and rummaged though the coat hangers and pulled out a baby pink, tulle dress. Lia walked into her bedroom and stood beside him rubbing her eyes, he handed her the dress.

"After your shower, put his on…"

"Why am I putting on Mummy's favourite dress?"

"Cos she'd want you to wear it…"

Dylan stood in his bedroom in front of the mirror tying his tie, he wore a navy blue suit with a powder blue shirt.

There was a knock on the door, Lia called out from her room.

"I'll get it!"

He heard 2 sets of footsteps come up the stairs, he turned as he felt a presence in the doorway.

"Hey, Nik…"

Nikki leaned on the door frame, she wore a navy maxi dress with her hair tied back. Dylan fumbled with his tie unable to get the knot right, he clenched his fists and let out a grunt. Nikki stepped inside the room and stood in front of him, she glanced down at his hands, they were shaking.

"Here…"

She finished looping the knot and brushed off his shoulder, she stood back and admired him with tears in her eyes.

"You look…"

He picked up the box of tissues from the dresser and handed them to her.

"Oh, don't start, you'll get me started, and I won't be able to stop."

Nikki plucked a few tissues from the box and blotted her eyes.

"I don't know why I bothered to wear make up… does, , Lia know what's happening?"

He exhaled and looked at himself in the mirror.

"I don't think so... umm, so, do you have it?"

She nodded and shoved more tissues into her bag.

"Yeah, it's downstairs…"

"Can I see it?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

He nodded taking one last look in the mirror. They made their way downstairs and Nikki picked up the long black bag from the couch and undid the zipper. Dylan smiled as tears welled in his eyes, Nikki gave him a friendly nudge with her hip.

"Hey, stop! I'm not allowed to cry, so neither are you!"

She reached zipped the bag and folded it over her arm.

"Are you okay if I go? I want to make sure everything is perfect, you shouldn't have to deal with anything else today…"

"Thanks, Nik, I don't know how I would have been able to do all this without you! I'll be okay, I've still got to explain things to Lia anyway…"

An hour later Dylan arrived outside the gardens and sat in his car trying to overcome his emotions. He got out the car and unbuckled Lia from her seat and picked her up.

"You ready?"

She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder.

He was greeted at the entrance by the Hammersley crew, they were all wearing their ceremonial whites. 2Dads approached cautiously and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"You okay big fella?"

Dylan nodded and took a deep breath in.

"Yeah, just can't believe this is happening..."

Nikki walked up to the group, Lia reached out wanting to by her, Nikki obliged and gave her a kiss, she turned to Dylan.

"Are you ready? Everyone's ready, we're just waiting for the car... what are these guys doing? Are we going formal?"

Pete stepped towards Dylan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think that's what she would want?"

Dylan nodded.

"Yeah, it think she'd appreciate some tradition... I'll go make sure everyone is okay, Pete, you wanna get everyone organised?"

He smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"It'd be my honour!"

The guests sat in rows of white chairs that lined the garden, the Hammersley crew stood at the entrance of the garden, swords drawn.

A shiny black car pulled up at the garden, Nikki stood at the door and took a deep breath in and opened the door, Kate emerged from the back seat wearing a stunning white mermaid style lace dress, . Nikki reach out and grabbed her hand and helped her out the car.

"Nik, what is going on? I can't walk properly in this dress and I'm dizzy from the blindfold! The doctor said I should , I just want to go home..."

"Oh my god, Kate, could you just stop complaining!"

Kate placed her hands in front of her trying to feel where she was.

"Where are we?"

Nikki pulled her towards the crew and took off her blindfold, Kate blinked furiously trying to get her eyes to focus in the light.

She looked past Nikki and saw the crew in their whites with their swords drawn.

"Nik?"

She smiled and gave her a hug, Kate looked down at her dress.

"Ah, what is going on?"

Nikki raised an eyebrow worried that she hadn't figured it out.

"The white dress doesn't give it away?"

Nikki stepped aside and Kate spotted Dylan and Lia at the end of the aisle.

Lia ran down the aisle excited to see her, Kate knelt down and she threw her arms around her.

"Mummy, I've missed you..."

"Oh, just be careful, Mummy's a little sore..."

Nikki picked Lia up and handed her a bouquet.

"Are you ready?"

Lia nodded and pressed play on the iPod.

"Never Tear us Apart." By INXS began to play.

_Don't ask me, what you know is true._

_Don't have to tell you, I love your precious heart._

The smile grew on Kate's face as she made eye contact with Dylan. Nikki began to walk down the aisle with Lia, but Kate stood there in a daze for a moment try to get her head around what was happening. Nikki turned back to Kate who was still at the beginning of the walkway.

"I think this is the part we're you need to follow me..."

Kate nodded and took a deep breath in and walked under the arch of swords, the crew all had tears in their eyes.

_I was you were there._

_Two worlds collided, and they could never tear us apart._

Kate's eyes focused on Dylan the entire way down the aisle. Tears welled in his eyes, he quickly wiped them as she stopped in front of him.

_We could live, for a thousand years._

_But if I hurt you, I'd make wine from your tears._

I _told you, that we could fly._

_Cause we have wings but some of us don't know why._

He reached out for her hand.

"Hi..."

She smiled and intertwined her hand with his.

"Hey..."

He pulled on her hand wanting her to stand closer.

"Are you surprised?"

Kate looked around at all the happy faces still gob smacked.

"I can't believe you arranged all this... When you were MIA at the hospital, I thought..."

"You thought I abandoned you?"

"Well, I thought you said all those things so that Dave would let us go..."

"Well yeah, but, Kate, it was also the truth. But he also helped me realise what I wanted, and who I want to be in this relationship. I didn't want to be him, so bitter and full of hate. I love you, I will always love you..."

Kate's heart fluttered at his words.

"You know why I did what I did was because I loved you right?"

"Yeah, I know... "

He reached over and ran his hand along the bandage on her chest.

"You were trying to show me that my happiness is more important than yours. But, I am happiest when I'm with you..You took a bullet for me, I think nearly dying for me counts for something."

They both smiled, Nikki nudged Dylan and nodded towards all the faces staring at them waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"Ah, guys can you talk about this later..."

Kate smiled and placed her hand on Nikki's arm.

"Give me a sec.."

She turned back to Dylan with an unimpressed expression on her face.

"So, my dress... I told you I wanted to pick it!"

Dylan's eyes darted around not expecting her to , the smile grew on Kate's face and she laughed at his nervousness.

"It's more than I could ever have imagined! Dylan, everything is perfect! And Never tear us apart?" Really?"

"It's fitting don't you think? And see how much I love you? I'm willing to have the Port Adelaide song play at our wedding..."

He flashed her a cheeky smile.

"I told you I could do it in 6 weeks..."

She gave him a nudge with her hip.

"Yeah, okay, you were right."

He cupped his ear and leaned towards her with a giant grin on his face.

"Ah, what was that? I didn't quite hear you?!"

She threw her head back and rolled her she knew he was stirring.

"Yes, Dylan, you planned a wedding in 6 weeks, you're amazing!!"

He nudged her back with his hip and smirked.

"Yeah, I know, not bad for a Dockers supporter, hey?!"

The End.

Well, there you have it guys, another journey over. I didn't have the heart to have her die, well, more that I couldn't finish the scene I had written lol!

Thanks for reading!! And reviewing!! I still have a few more crazy ideas, so stay tuned!!

Again for all you non AFL supporters and non Aussie's, Never Tear Us Apart at the beginning of all Port Adelaide games as a bit of an inspirational chant.


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